As Long As We Both Shall Live
by LegoHouse
Summary: Following the end of Season 3. No sire bond. Rated M for safety. Elijah knew he had failed her the moment he saw her drinking from a man. And Elena knew he would do just as the others did, he would pity her and look for who she used to be. But Elijah would be whatever she would need, in order not to fail her ever again. This concludes my first summary :)
1. Waking up

_**Well, here is my first fanfiction. I actually really wanted to write about Caroline and Klaus, but I didn't know where to start. And right now Elena is seriously getting on my nerves, so I thought I might as well make her a little more interesting (but not to Katherine-like). **_

_**If anybody actually reads this to the end, please know that English is not my first language. I am more or less confident about grammar, but I have never learned to write dialogue, so feel free to give me tips if reading me makes you scream! And i'm guessing there are a lot of repetitions too...**_

_**Following Season 3's final. In which there is no (fuc****) sire bond.**_

_******Always and Forever**_

Elena opened her eyes, assessing her surroundings. It seemed to her like she could see everything, down to the smallest detail. Yet, nothing made sense. A grey room, filled with grey metal doors on the wall. A morgue. She was in a morgue. Now that her brain had processed the information given by her eyes, she started to notice what her other senses perceived. The room was cold, yet she was not affected by it. An estranged odor attacking her nostrils, which she identified as the odor of the dead. She had smelled it before, but never before had it been this strong. Her mouth was empty, but she could taste something, as if she had not brushed her teeth in a while. The moment she recognized the taste as water, she remembered. The car, Rebekah, Matt, the crash, Stefan. She could remember everything, and thus she remembered how the water filling her lungs had brought her peace and ultimately death. Her mind was assaulted by one simple question she had no answer for: "How am I alive?"

She rose from the metal bed she was resting on and noticed the deafening silence. She turned to see Stefan and Damon looking at her, eyes filled with so much sadness she wondered how they could bear it. She looked at them, trying to understand. She saw death in their eyes, so she guessed somebody had died. Well, Klaus for one. And Tyler. She would have expected such sadness coming from Caroline, but Stefan, and especially Damon, had never been attached to him. Somebody else then. Somebody that had been used as revenge by any of the remaining Originals. But to hurt her as she had hurt them would leave only Jeremy. She could not believe Elijah had sunk this low, but surely it was not completely out of character for Rebekah or Kol.

Already struck by grief, she asked the brothers with tears in her eyes: "It's Jeremy, isn't it?"

While Stefan avoided her gaze, Damon looked at her with unwavering eyes, but not before she noticed an accusatory glare directed at his brother: "No, Elena… Jeremy is fine. I think the one responsible for the situation you find yourself in should tell you." He said, his anger barely concealed. Well, Damon had never been good at hiding what he was feeling. Probably a consequence of not feeling anyhing for so long.

And once directly asked by Elena what situation Damon was referring to, Stefan had no choice but to meet her gaze. "I did as you asked Elena. I saved him. I saved Matt. He's doing good. I mean, Elena, you've got to understand. I did this for you!" he tried to say, before Damon angrily cut him: "You fucking left her to die is what you did. Don't tell me you killed her and you did it for her. I would have saved her brother. I would have saved you Elena", his voice breaking at the last sentence. And Elena finally understood what was happening, though she knew not how. _I am a vampire_. "How?" looking as she'd been struck by lightning. "When you came in earlier, Dr Fell told you whatever you had was minor, but she lied, and gave you vampire blood to heal the major concussion you actually had" explained Stefan.

"Everything will be ok, Elena, I have what you need right now", as he was handing her a couple a blood bags. "Once you've completed the transition, we can talk about how stupid my brother is."

So Elena did the only thing her vampire instinct had in common with her now forever gone human instinct, and she ran.


	2. Transition

Chapter Two

_**I thought I should tell you this guys: I will deviate from whatever happened in the show. I will rearrange some scenes too.**_

_**If there are any anti-Klaroline fans reading, I am sorry for you, but I hope I'll convince you to ship them. :)**_

Caroline couldn't understand what was going on: Tyler was alive and he should be dead. But Damon had confirmed Klaus' death, so basically the fact that her boyfriend was standing in front of her, kissing her, should make no sense at all. But she'd have her answers later. For now, all she wanted was to kiss her hybrid lover and she was doing a pretty good job for that matter.

Tyler kept trying to tell her something and would not shut up, so she thought she'd take things a bit further and took off his shirt. "Easy love, wrong time, wrong place, wrong equipment." He said, trying to stop her _again_. So she mentioned her idea of having hot hybrid vampire sex and to make her point she took her shirt off and that seemed to do the trick, because his complaints stopped at last. _Did he just…? _"Did you just call me love?"

That's when his face changed. "I don't know love. Did I?", while tilting his head to the side. She pushed him against the tree, but without the passion that had been there seconds ago when she had done that exact same thing. "What the hell did you do to Tyler?" she asked. "That's what I enjoy about you. So much more than a pretty face." Only one man could think of giving compliments at a time like this. "Oh my god. You're Klaus. You're disgusting." She was losing her words but he answered right away: "And you are a glorious kisser." _So are you_.

She felt her cell vibrate in her pocket, as the chorus from _Girls Like You_ started to play. _Saved by the bell_. She took a look at it and answered when she saw it was Stefan. Truth to be told, she'd have answered if it had been Damon. She really needed an excuse to get away! Stefan quickly reined her in about Elena fleeing, and he told her that neither he nor Damon had been able to find her, or even speak to her, because she was not answering her calls.

_Ugh. I cannot believe it. _She flashed her teeth in a big sarcastic smile and turned around to look at Klaus. "Don't think for a moment that I've forgotten about that whole body swap thingy, because you will get back in your own body" she tried to say but he added with a smirk: "Don't worry love, I will, and then we can resume our activities. I believe the term you used was hot hybrid vampire sex. If you ever forget, I never will and I'll stick around as a reminder." _Let's not get sidetracked by that oh so sexy accent. Concentrate Caroline, and consider yourself lucky you don't have to deal with the real body because it could be worse._ "Like I was saying, do you have Elijah's number? Actually, I know you do. So could you give me his number and we can both pretend this never happened, because it definitely won't happen again. So you might as well forget it!" she said, still smiling. "That depends. What would you give me in exchange for his number?" _Oh he was going to have fun with her_. "What do you want Klaus? I am NOT going to prostitute myself for a damn number!" All pretenses were gone, she was mad, and as glorious a kisser she was, glory itself paled when she was angry. "Easy, love. You and I will have sex, we will _make love_ to one another, mark my words, but not today. No, all I ask for the number of one of the Originals, something most would kill for, or even prostitute themselves for, is a date. One single date. What will you answer?"

* * *

Elena kept running blindly into the woods. Half of her was mad that she wasn't out of breath and forced to stop, so that she could fall to her knees and let an unstoppable flow of tears stream down her cheeks. But there was that other half who was amazed at the strength and speed she now had. Her emotions were threatening to overwhelm her, anger and sadness fighting for domination. She was so lost in her chaotic mind that she only acknowledged the standing person ahead of her when she crashed into him.

"Steady, Elena. Are you ok?" said the Original, making sure she was indeed alright. "Elijah?" she used his name as a beacon for the madness raging through her thoughts. "What are you doing here?"

"Elena, I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am, but now is not the place to apologize. Your friends have been looking for you everywhere. Caroline was desperate enough to ask Klaus for my help, though I do not wish to know what she gave him in exchange."

"I ran away." She said while laughing. "Doesn't that sound childish? I ran away. I am not some teenager in desperate need for attention you know?" she could hear hysteria in her voice. But she continued unable to stop, "I am a fucking vampire! And I just said fuck." She laughed unstoppably. _Definitely hysterical. _

Always the serious one, Elijah brought her back to her senses, "Elena, I know everything is heightened and you're having difficulties to focus, but you need to. From what I've gathered, you need to make a decision."

Elena looked at him, eyes sparkling with wonder, "You are the first one to acknowledge there _is_ a decision. I've listened to my voicemail, you know. They," seething at that word, "they told me I _had_ to complete the transition. Damon already had prepared the blood bags. Stefan seemed to think that I would do it for him, because he cannot _live_ without me. Caroline told me that…" and she stopped there, taking a breath to think a little. "They all want me to complete the transition for good reasons, but it always is for others."

"Then let me ask you this question, lovely Elena. What do _you _want? What are you dreams? Your hopes? What could Elena Gilbert possibly want?" inviting her to follow him down the path, leading her to a beautiful lake, its surface shining with a dancing moon.

"I don't know… I've never been asked what I wanted before. This is new to me. Isn't it pathetic?" She heard him take a breath to answer her, so quickly she added, "No, don't answer, it was rhetorical. As I've just said, I'm not an attention whore."

Elijah now looked horrified. "Elena, I apologize if I ever made you think in any way that I thought of you as a whore. It was never my intentions." But Elena giggled.

"Elijah, I don't mean to be laughing at you, but the things you say sometimes… Let's just say your age shows a little!" She saw the quizzical look he was giving her, and instead of dwelling of unimportant things to avoid the matter at hand, she tried to think about what she truly wanted.

"I guess before any of this happened, before I met Stefan, before everything, I wanted simple things. I imagined myself having kids, and growing old with Matt. But I guess I can't just ignore everything that happened to me and how it changed me. So what do I want now? What does Elena Gilbert want?" she said while smiling at him.

"I want Jeremy to be safe, and he can't take care of himself. I want Bonnie to be happy, and I somewhat feel that can only happen if I disappear, seeing how my being alive brought her so much sadness. I want Caroline to realize her own worth, because she forgets it so easily. I guess that's a plus one for your brother. He sees the best in her, and… I'm getting sidetracked _again_… I want Stefan and Damon to be the brothers they should be, even if I'm gone." She smiled sadly, "If I die now, Damon will spend eternity blaming Stefan, as he did when he thought Katherine dead. But if I live and choose either of them, I will lose the other, but they will lose each other as well. If I was the martyr everybody seems to think I am, I would choose neither." Noticing Elijah's silence, she was glad he could be such a good listener, because all she needed was someone to help her organize her thoughts. Voicing them to an actual human, well vampire, being was a good therapy. "In the end, I don't want to live forever. But I do not _not_ want it either. Like Bonnie. I do not hate the idea. I am just not ready for it. And I need to get ready in three hours." She took a deep breath. "I've made my decision Elijah."

"What will it be?"

"I will complete the transition. I will go to college. I will learn how to cook. I will read every book in the Mystic Falls library, then find another one. I will travel the world. I will learn how to speak languages from around the globe. I will learn how to read a music sheet. I'll be a doctor, a scientist, a pâtissier, a scholar, a lawyer; I will learn everything about everything!"

He was now smiling at her, and he couldn't help but feel proud, because he knew Elena had not felt so free in quite a while and it was thanks to him she was now.

Elena was at peace. She had made a decision she knew to be the right one and she had made it for herself. "Thank you Elijah, you were a great help."

"I only seek to redeem myself after failing you on more than once occasion already. Shall we go back to the Salvatore's now?"


	3. Hunting

Chapter Three

_**Sorry for the late update, but like most authors delayed their chapters before Christmas because they had their finals, I'm delaying because I had my finals this week… I spent my whole Christmas break studying and I started this story half because I missed Elijah and half out of procrastination… Anyway, enjoy :) **_

_**Last apology: part of the late update is due to a neurology exam I've been studying for… There is sooooo much to learn my brain is packed with only neurology and nothing's left for anything else! So when I tried to procrastinate and write this story instead of studying, I ended up writing about Elena's brain and neurones and lots of boring stuff…**_

Elena could hear the brothers arguing about her downstairs, arguing about how she should feed, and deciding for her again. Damon should know better. She would never hurt anyone if she could avoid it. But it was funny how they did not adapt to her being a vampire, because they always seemed to forget about her newfound keen hearing.

"I think we should go now, Stefan" she said, sounding a little tired, as she interrupted their hearted argument.

As they walked in the forest, Elena tried to do as Stefan had instructed, and listened to the sound of nature. She breathed in the scent of something she could not identify, but still, something with a beating heart and pulsing veins. Stefan stepped behind her and put his hands on her hips, whispering in her ear, "Don't fear, Elena. You don't have to kill anything."

But the feeling of his hands kept distracting Elena, and she forgot all about nature. Gone was her hunger for blood, she now hungered for Stefan. She turned to look at him, and he could see her eyes were hooded with lust. She could feel his hands on her hips, but it was so different from before. It was like every part of her skin was as sensible as the tips on her fingers used to be, but the tips of her fingers were now so sensible that she could practically _taste_ Stefan through her fingers.

She kissed him first, but he responded with such enthusiasm that who started what really did not matter. She took his shirt off, and that really should have told him that something was different, because if Elena being so straightforward with him was not a huge billboard with pulsing lights and fireworks, then nothing was. But he did not notice anything as he made love to her on the ground.

As she was lost in her thoughts, lying with Stefan, the hunger attacked her again, making herself oblivious to anything but the beating heart of a deer close to her. She leaped from Stefan and with all her vampire speed, she rushed to the animal and tore its neck apart. She devoured the poor deer and felt pity for it, but could not gather the strength to stop. As Stefan joined her, she had blood all over her, while standing over the dead animal. Her whole body jerked at his touch, and she started vomiting the blood. "It's just because it's animal blood. You know, it took me months to keep it down. You will too, eventually", said Stefan, as he took her back at her house, leaving her on her doorstep with a quick goodnight kiss.

Elena felt exhausted and she needed to calm down. Not only were her emotions heightened, but everything was. She had felt overwhelmed by Stefan's touch earlier, but now that he was away, she could think clearly once again. She went to her bedroom and she was so absent-minded that it was not until she had taken her shirt off and heard someone cough that she noticed the Original.

She gasped and had such a powerful backward reflex that she tripped in one of her shoe lying on the floor and fell on her butt. "I am truly sorry, Elena. I should have told you I was here, but I thought there was no need with your new vampires senses. Clearly I should have seen your distraught state of mind and made my presence known." He added with a chuckle "And clearly you are not yet comfortable with vampire speed, force and reflexes, seeing your reaction just then."

Elena could not believe her ears; Elijah was _laughing _at her? Elijah the always so calm and posed Original? And then she started to laugh as well, but being the young vampire she was, the little outburst quickly turned into incontrollable laughing until she let out a huge hiccup. _Glad I don't have a beating heart to make me blush… but GOD I wish I could die from embarrassment!_ She tried to pretend as if nothing had happened, "What are you doing here… in my bedroom, Elijah?" as she put on her shirt.

"I can hear your heartbeat Elena. Not only does it jumps when you are being dishonest, but also when you are embarrassed."

Elena looked at him with eyes rounded by surprise, "But I… Don't you… Oh my god, Elijah! You are lying, I don't have a heartbeat!" as she listened to hear it.

Elijah felt a little bit guilty for making fun of her, but this new Elena was giving him so much material for jokes that he could not resist.

"I am sorry," he apologized again. "The reason of my late visit is concern about your first hunt. How did it go Elena?"

"I killed a deer. I killed a Bambi," she said her voice heavy with regret. "But I couldn't stop, the feeling of the hunt was so exhilarating! Stefan promised to take me tomorrow again, even if today's feeding was enough, because the more I practice, the sooner I will be able to be standing in crowds." She kept silent about the vomiting part, trying not to make him worry, as she knew he would.

"Well, killing a… _Bambi_…to use your Disneycal terms, is still better than to kill a human. Learn to feed from animals before trying to feed from a human." Elena opened her mouth to protest, but Elijah continued, "Oh don't give me that look, Elena. If you do not learn to feed from humans, as much as you think you will abhor it, you will never be truly in control around them. You need to know their taste if you want to resist the hunger." He added on a compassionate tone, contrasting with his previous harsh words, "It _is_ part of the process, even if you would prefer otherwise." He looked at her with unwavering fate and said, "You have the strength in you Elena. Do not give up before trying. On that note, I have to leave for a while. There is some business in Europe that requires my attention."

She gasped and felt quickly asked with concern, "Will you come back?"

"Of course. By the time I will, I trust you will be fully in control. Goodnight Elena." And he quickly left her room and exited the house in silence.

"I hope so," she whispered to the silence of her house.


	4. Slipping

Chapter Four – Slipping

_**So this one will be longer **_

_**In the end that neurology exam raped me… You have 5 sentences, A, B, C, D. Which of the following choices is best: 1) A, B, C and D; 2) A, B, C; 3) A, C; 4) B, D; 5) Only D. I died. And so did all of my friends. I'm sorry, I need to ventilate XD**_

_**There is a lot of Damon in here, but it is purely platonic without any sexual tension (from Elena).**_

_**With my best friend, we have that little thing called Lyrics Moment of the Day (LMotD) in which I would text her whichever lyrics that were stuck in my head! Here is your LMotD!**_

_Everyone will remember you when you're gone;  
And your heart is a stone;  
Buried underneath your pretty clothes;  
Don't you know people write songs about girls like you?_

* * *

Elena had been hunting daily with Stefan for 5 days, but she still kept vomiting the blood. She was just better at hiding it. She really did not want Stefan to worry about her. She would keep it down if she did not give up. At least that's what she kept telling herself…

It was a Monday morning. A good and nice Monday morning as no one likes them. To her defense, Elena could say that it were Monday mornings that did not like her. But all that seemed pretty pointless as she was bent on her toilet seat busy throwing up all the blood she had just drank. There is that thing about vomiting that always makes you feel like crap, because basically your whole body tells you, "You screwed up bad, so I'm gonna screw you up even worse!"

"Elena, what the hell is wrong with you," asked Damon as he rushed to her side?

_Of course_. Damon would be here to see her in that so graceful and lady-like moment. "What are you doing in my bathroom? I never let you in," she said weakly.

"I wanted to see you. And I knocked but you didn't answer. I was about to go but I heard you. And I was always good at letting myself in, don't worry about that," he added with a wink.

"Oh yes, Damon. Now is the best moment of all to be flirty with you brother's girlfriend," she said bitterly. But as she saw the hurt her words brought him, she immediately regretted snapping at him. He was not responsible for her state. "Look, I've had trouble with the animal blood, but Stefan told me it was normal and that he too had trouble to keep it in at first. So don't worry, I'm fine!"

"Says the girl bent on the toilet seat. You have so much credibility, it's killing me… Or you, for that matter."

"Please, Damon, don't tell Stefan! He means well and I don't want him to be worried!"

"Oh, so you haven't told him!" and then his face darkened as he seemed to understand something, "Elena, did you keep _any_ of the blood you've been drinking since your transition?"

Elena kept silent, but if an image is worth a thousand words, sometimes a silent is worth a thousand images. "Look, Damon, as I've said, I'm fine! You really don't need to worry about me!"

"See, that's the thing, I do. So stop with the _don't worry about me_ crap because you already know I will. And you are wrong if you think not telling my brother is a good idea. As much as he wants you to feed on animals, he also wants you to stay alive." He paused before adding with the eyebrow move he was so famous for, "or dead, it depends of the perspective."

"What do you mean?" she asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Elena, you need to feed from the vein. You are a new vamp…"

"NO! I can't!" she quickly stood up and looked at him straight in the eye.

"We both know that's not true."

"Then I don't want to," she weakly added.

"That's not true either. You're a new vampire as I was saying. The blood must be calling you, singing to you. You must be craving for it."

"I'm afraid. What if I can't control myself? What if I become a ripper?" she confessed.

"Elena, that won't happen! You have friends around you! Do you think that Bonnie, Caroline or me would let you do that? Or Stefan?"

She escaped his burning stare and looked at the floor, finally voicing her deepest fear, even if it only came out as a whisper "What if I take _him_ down with me?"

"Ok, I'm probably gonna hate myself later for that, but you need to talk to him. Isn't communication the base of a solid relationship?"

"Him?" as Damon pointed a guy sitting alone in the corner of the bar.

The place was crowded, he usual for a Friday night. There was a band playing some folk/rock music on the stage, and since they were good, a lot of people had quieted down a little to enjoy their songs. The scent of alcohol was heavy, but that was to be expected in a bar. If that guy disappeared for a couple of minutes, nobody would notice, or at least the people who would have noticed were not here with him tonight.

Elena agreed, and started to walk toward the guy, but quickly she turned around and came back to sit with Damon. "I can't, it's not right," she whispered furiously.

"Hey, it was you who proposed this! You said that you'd try it and if it worked, you'd tell Stefan that the animal diet wasn't for you!" Damon thought it was stupid that she wanted proof to back her discussion with Stefan, and that if she loved him that much she shouldn't be afraid to tell him that she wanted to try drinking from the vein, but Elena had made it clear his opinion was not needed.

That's when Elena saw a guy put something in the drink of a girl as she was busy talking to her friend. "Him." She said and walked toward the guy. She did not even bother with introduction as her pupils dilated, "Come with me." Once they were outside, she took him to a back alley and used compulsion again to make sure he would keep quiet. Even under her compulsion, his eyes kept going back to her breasts, and it made his blood race faster. Elena felt her face change, and she dived for his neck, piercing the skin without mercy. The blood was intoxicating, a nectar even the gods would not be worthy of, and not even once did she think about stopping. She was messy; there was blood running down her chin, but she did not care as she was gorging herself. When the blood flow started to get slower, a small part of her also realized that his heartbeat was fading, but that small part's voice was too quiet to be heard.

"Elena, you need to stop now," urged Damon.

As she didn't listen, Damon tried to physically stop her, but the blood had made Elena stronger, as well as more primitive. She sent him flying into a wall and she resumed her activities, only stopping when she had drank him dry. She let him drop to the ground, looked at Damon as he was getting up and quickly ran in the opposite direction, fading into the night.

Damon knew Elena was long gone by the time he was back on his two feet. He took out his cellphone and tried calling her, only to hear her phone on the ground next to the man she had just killed. _Oh, this is going so great_. Her clothes were full of blood as she had left, so he tried to hunt her following that scent, only to be faced with a dead end, all of her clothes on a naked woman's body. As he smelled Elena on her, he knew she had stripped the woman for her clothes, but had been unable to resist drinking from her. He had released in the world a baby vamp with an unquenchable thirst. He frowned as he realized how mad Stefan would be, and then grunted when he also realized that mad was nowhere near what Stefan would feel. He dialed his brother's number, only to be directly sent to voicemail. _Why is he angry with me now?_ He tried Caroline, and luckily the blonde answered.

"What?" she said, her annoyance not concealed at all.

"Where are you?" he thought that maybe small talk would make her less mad with the news he had.

"With Stefan. Not that it is any of your concern."

"Why is he not answering me? I tried calling him first," asked a confused Damon.

"Elena told me where you were taking her tonight. And she told me _why_. I messed up and accidently told Stefan. Which is why he is mad at you. By the way I am too" She paused and added, "Tyler dumped me because of some wolf he met in the mountains, so basically, we are both drinking our emotions."

"First, she is the one who insisted about not telling my bother that she kept vomiting the blood, and second, she is also the one who suggested that she should try drinking from the vein." He answered angrily, a little annoyed at the fact that for once, he wasn't the bad guy but everyone seemed to think he was.

"I think our sweet Caroline forgot to mention that I joined Stefan and her about an hour ago, and that the three of us have been enjoying some Scotch whisky from my personal collection."

Damon looked at the phone in his hand as if it had suddenly grown a head. "Klaus?" he asked disbelievingly.

"You sound surprised Damon. Why, is it so hard to believe that your brother and Caroline could enjoy my company?" said the hybrid on an out of place cheerful tone.

As Damon heard some fighting in the background, he guessed Blondie was trying to get her phone back, but really, he had some news to give and they couldn't be delayed any longer. Not caring who was holding the phone on the other hand, he said, "I lost Elena."

"You what?" answered a voice so calm it scared Damon. His brother had suddenly taken an interest in the conversation.

"I took her to a bar, as you know, and she picked out a guy, she took him to a back alley, and she fed from him," he paused, unsure how to tell him the rest.

"Tell me what you did Damon!" his anger burning through the phone.

Pausing between each answer, he answered, "She couldn't stop and I tried to make her to, but she hit me. And she killed him. And then she ran. And she did not come back." Damon heard muffled laughter as Klaus shouted, "You were hit by the non-violent baby-vamp and she hit you so bad that you couldn't catch her? You're getting soft Damon."

"Tell him to shut up." Damon certainly did not need the Original to feel bad. Then Elena's phone started to ring, and as he looked for the caller ID, he saw Stefan's name.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. She left me her phone." But Damon knew the worse was still to come, he was just too scared to tell them.

Caroline finally won the fight for the phone and asked the dreaded question, "What are you still hiding from us?"

Damon sighted, and thought he might as well be done with it, "After she hit me and she finished the guy, she killed another woman and took her clothes so I wouldn't be able to track her."

"So basically, you try hitting on your brother's girlfriend by taking her out and playing the powerful vampire who's gonna teach her how to feed and control herself, but you couldn't keep her from killing the first person she tried and then you even lost her while she was out killing a second innocent person? Wow Damon, I really hope you feel good about yourself right now!"

"I told you Damon. I told you what would happen if she killed someone. She is too compassionate; of course she would turn off the guilt. But no, no, you are Damon, you know everything better than everybody! I mean, if I had known what she was going through, I would have asked you to teach my girlfriend how to drink," added Stefan, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

As much as Damon knew he deserved that, he wasn't about to let Blondie and Stefan win without a fight, no matter how unfair he needed to be, "Yeah, well you didn't know because she didn't want to tell you, she wanted to tell me!"

"Ouch, that was quite a low blow, even I must admit," as the words were colored with a British accent.

"Don't you care about Elena? I thought her life was to be protected at all cost?" asked a wondering Caroline.

"Yes, love. The keyword here is indeed _life_. Since it ended thanks to my lovely sister, her well-being is of no concern to me. Of course, it seems to concern you. Perhaps you need my help, then? I wonder what you would offer in exchange for that boring girl. Though I have to say, her recent behavior just made her much more interesting, don't you think?" And Caroline couldn't really listen to anything and mentally cursed whichever god had granted the most evil creature of all with that unfair accent. The rhythm of his words was mesmerizing, and if it wasn't for Stefan's cough, she would have been lost, her eyes wandering between raspberry lips, dimples and those blue eyes so ancient they had seen everything. It was easy to get lost in the eternity they held and so much easier to lose herself in the wonder they contained.

"Come home Damon, we'll discuss this later." Stefan handed Caroline her phone and turned to Klaus. "Will you actually be of any help? Because if you are just planning to sit here and laugh at the situation while looking at Caroline as she was some sort of rare artefact, you can leave now."

"Now, now, let's not be so hasty. You have nothing to offer, and the rare artefact you mentioned already promised me a date. What else could I possibly want?" said Klaus, the smile plastered on his face.

"A day." After a slight hesitation that would have gone unnoticed by any non-supernatural creature, she added, "I'll spend a whole day with you if you get your hybrids to find her."

Stefan's surprise showed only for half a second, before he quickly returned to his neutral stare, but Klaus' mouth seemed to be stuck wide open; for once in his life he truly was speechless. "I'll take it you accept." She then muttered under her breath, "Tyler's gonna break all the glasses in town."

Klaus chuckled, "Love, your boyfriend is your problem, but if I might, I would appreciate it if you took my advice on the matter."

She gave him an annoyed look, and mentally cursed herself while asking, "And what would be your bad advice?"

"Dump him, he doesn't deserve you anyway. Quite simple don't you think?"

"Ugh. Not gonna happen anytime soon."

"Good thing we have forever, sweetheart."

"I'll leave you two lovebirds, I have a brother to kill," said Stefan, waving goodbye as he was on his way out the bar.

"Wait for me," whined Caroline, on the run to catch him, leaving Klaus to stare at her. "I'll call you when I've found her to tell you the details of our dates, love."

* * *

Elijah was on the hunt tonight, but his prey was elusive. The streets of New York were crowded with humans, running, kissing, drinking. That was one of the reasons not many vampires lived in New York and most would just come and go from time to time. Everything was temptation and it was too easy to forget the need of secrecy. Everywhere he looked, there were people, and had he been any other vampire, he'd had been immediately overwhelmed. But Elijah was not every vampire. No human could be of any interest to him while he was chasing his prey. They only made his task harder. Truly, this city did not need any vampires, the crime rate was high enough without them, and that meant there was blood everywhere. Though it did not really hinder Elijah, it did distract him a little, reminding him that since he had started the hunt, he had not fed. That had been two weeks ago. But he would keep looking until he found what he was looking for. Coming back empty ended was out of question.

New York had been a lucky guess, based on something that he would have forgotten had it been said by anybody else but her. _"You know, I can actually relate to Holly, in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I'd love to go there myself one day. My dad proposed to my mom with a Tiffany's ring and it was the most beautiful thing in the world. I buried her with it, so that it would stay with her forever."_ It was something he had heard her tell a friend, while they were gossiping about some wedding that had taken place in Mystic Falls. Not that he was stalking her. Just that whenever he saw her he couldn't help himself and had to listen intensely to hear her voice, or when he was lucky enough, her laugh.

New York was where he had started his hunt, and New York was where it would end, he knew it. And you don't walk the earth for a thousand years without developing an instinct; moreover, the only reason why he had not been daggered like all his siblings was that he actually listened to his instinct. The only time he hadn't was when he had let his feelings get the upper hand, and he had foolishly believed the Salvatore's because of his blind faith in _her_, as well as the time he wanted to be reunited with his siblings so bad he had forgotten for a moment who Klaus was. But he had learned. Another reason that explained his survival. Finn had never learned to accept his fate, and Kol had never learned over his mistakes.

Elijah closed his eyes and inhaled, letting his instinct take over completely. He moved silently through the crowd, every step taking him closer, and closer. He chose not to think about what he would find, and to deal with it nly when he would have to face her. Suddenly, he heard a slowing heartbeat, then a thud as what he guessed to be a body hit the ground. He quickly sped to the source of the noise, and what he saw was worse than everything his wandering mind had imagined when left unchecked.

It was a bar, but the noisy kind of bar, with loud music, as if to discourage dialogue, but no dance floor, so all that was left to do was drink. Boys normally would not have difficulties to be heard, they would just shout louder than the music, making the already unbearable place even worse. Girls would speak directly in the ear of others, thinking they were being sexy, but there is no such thing as a sexy shout in the ear. However, the situation was not normal. While the music loud enough to burst eardrums was still playing, nobody was sitting. On the left, there were bodies piled on a large pool of blood. Quickly assessing the numbers, Elijah guessed there were about a dozen dead people in that pile. On the right, about 20 people were standing still in a line, staring right in front of them, their eyes void of emotions. Apart from breathing, they showed no sign of life. _Compelled_, thought Elijah. But the horror was worse at the center of it all. She was standing there, the Herald of Death itself, her fangs buried in yet another innocent's neck soon to be added to the growing pile at her feet. She was drinking greedily, so absorbed that she had not noticed his presence.

It took less than a second for Elijah to assess the situation. A thousand years would not have sufficed for him to accept what he was seeing. Objectively, he had seen worse, but he would never see her in an objective way. Seeing her reduced to that state was too much for his cursed soul. How he wished he could go back to the past. He wished he had never gone away. He should have known that leaving her to them was a bad idea. He winced because he knew he was only deceiving himself. He had known, but he had run away from her, from what he had sworn he would never feel again. He could feel it grow inside of him, weakening the base of the walls he had spent the last centuries to build. He fled so that they would not crumble, but they were already nothing more than dust, only to be blown away with what was standing in front of him right now. He was torn between guilt and rage. He had let her down, and he would never be worthy of forgiveness again. Throughout his life, he had let down his siblings when he had stopped looking for them, he had let down Klaus when he had given up on him, he had let down himself when he became everything he abhorred to save his family, but nothing was as worse as letting _her_ down.

While Elijah was self-castigating, he became aware that something was wrong, besides the present situation. He analyzed his surroundings, but he could find no threat, not that he could actually be hurt anyway. All of his senses were alert, and he knew that ignoring the feeling based on a first observation would be a bad idea. So he scanned the street, but there were no passerby in the vicinity. The threat had to come from inside. He listened for heartbeats to no avail. All the bodies in the pile were indeed dead, and all the beating hearts were in the line, no one was hiding anywhere. He closely examined every person standing still, compelled. A blonde girl. A black man. An ordinary guy. An old drunkard. A woman who could easily pass for a prostitute. The barman. He kept looking until he reached the end of the line, but his feeling of wrongness had just increased a tenfold during his examination of the first people, though he still knew not why. He tried again. A blonde girl. A black man. An ordinary guy. A prostitute. A barman. As Elena finished her latest victim and jerked the blonde forward, they all moved in unison. Elena started devouring the blonde's throat, still oblivious to the fact that she had an audience. Elijah wanted to keep it that way until the menace was no more. A black guy. An ordinary guy. An old drunkard. A prostitute. A barman. Movement. A small tattoo on the wrist. A cross on the neck. A white shirt stained with alcohol. Shorts with a personality disorder, bordering the category of undergarments. Broken shards of glass. And then, as recognition finally hit him, he saw the eyes of the black man and knew he was too late, too far away and too slow to prevent what was about to happen. It had been so long since he had last seen that tattoo. The mark of the Five. He knew the man had marked himself so that everybody would acknowledge his strength and not only those few who were chosen. The hunter knew who he was, and knew he could not hurt him, so his attack was not directed against the Original. For the first time in a thousand years, Elijah's instinct aligned with his heart's desires, even though his reason was not ready to accept it yet, and he knew her life was in danger as if he was one with her. Unfortunately, the hunter was already on the move as a desperate cry escaped Elijah's lips, "Elena!"

She raised her head and slowly turned around, the small smile on her bloodied lips turning to an expression of surprise and hurt. Had she been standing still, the stake that was now coming out of her chest would have instantly killed her. The small movement she had made had been enough to change the point of impact, and the stake had missed her heart by a mere millimeter. Already too far gone on vampire road, she turned back at vampire speed and ripped the hunter's head off. As it rolled on the floor, she staggered a little, but was quickly caught by Elijah's arm, as he gently lowered her to the floor.

"Elijah," sighted Elena, her voice content with happiness and relief.


	5. Surfacing

Chapter Five

_**Brownie points for those who find the not so hidden Once Upon a Time reference.**_

_**Thanks for the reviews, the favorites, the follows, I really appreciate it. I took a while to write it because I keep having new ideas when I go to bed and they always require rewrites XD**_

_**I'm having a little down because of the Original spin-off… It broke my heart when Angel and Buffy were separated… But I never had much hope for the amazing couple Elijah and Elena would be so it's not as bad… For Klaus and Caroline I'm taking it bad… I guess that's why they don't get any scene together anymore it would just upset the fans more when he left! **_

_This is the way you left me  
I'm not pretending  
No hope, no love, no glory  
No Happy Ending,  
This is the way that we love  
Like it's forever  
Then live the rest of our life  
But not together_

* * *

Elijah looked at Elena, trying to understand the emotions he saw in her eyes. Where he expected anger and hurt, he only found happiness and relief. He looked at the stake with horror, knowing it was so close to her heart, knowing that she had been so close to death. Wishing he didn't have to hurt her but knowing he had to, he removed the stake out of her chest as she gasped in pain. He helped her to a sitting position and as he kneeled to her side, he gave her his wrist, silently urging her to drink his blood. She coughed blood as she tried to protest that she would heal by herself.

"Don't try to punich yourself, Elena. I am the one at fault. I should never have left you with those brothers you like so much, thinking they would put you before their own wishes. I should have kept contact during the few days I was away. I should have found you sooner. I should have seen the hunter. I should have stopped him," he kept apologizing for all the things he blamed himself for, and his voice broke at his last apology, "I failed you again," he suddenly gasped when he felt fangs pierce the skin of his neck. He knew she was still on a high from the people she had been drinking dry and that the Salvatore had not been teaching her very well how to feed, so he was sure they had not taught her properly about vampire etiquette, but he couldn't refrain from grasping her hips in his hands as he held her close. At least, on her part, there was no sign that she knew what an intimate act she had just initiated, as she was mostly being violent. He slowly pushed her away, knowing she had taken more than enough and wouldn't stop by herself.

"Elena, stop." His voice held a commanding tone, far more superior to Damon's, as she immediately raised her head and retracted her fangs. To him, she looked like a trapped animal, her true self fighting hard to emerge. He held her face in both his hands and stared into her eyes, trying to find some proof that she was still there. Slowly, recognition came, allowing her to calm herself, and she sighted, "You found me."

As relief washed over him, he answered with his heart, "I will always find you, Elena."

She escaped his hold to take a look around, and she knew no words would ever be enough to describe what she saw, what she had done. Lifeless eyes were staring at her, or more accurately, staring through her. She felt herself crumble as tears started to build in her eyes. The sorrow she felt was beyond everything she knew. As she had felt extreme happiness, coming so high only made her crash harder and more painfully.

Elijah was torn between leaving her side momentarily to take care of things, and taking her far away. Always pragmatic, he quickly got up on his feet and went to the line of people, compelling them to leave, forget, and move on with their life. As for the bodies, he had gained many contacts through the years and he knew how to deal with a situation like the one he currently found himself in. He dialed a number and while making sure Elena was not going anywhere. "It's me. I need you and your team to take care of something for me. I'll text you the address." He paused to listen to the answer, and quickly added, "No, this takes precedence on whatever business you have. I trust you will use your judgment wisely." Subtlety was not one his priority right now, she was.

"Who was that?" she asked, still in the floor.

"An acquaintance of mine. His line of business is in taking care of… situation such as this one," as he tried not to use any harsh words that would cripple her.

"You mean he takes care of the mess young vampires often make, especially getting rid of dead bodies without any human noticing our existence?" she said with a smirk. It seemed whatever shred of humanity she had found was lost again. She stood up and asked in a seductive voice, "Have you ever required your friend's service Elijah?"

"I believe I just did," he severely replied. He knew it was no use bringing back to Mystic Falls whoever was standing in front of him right now, as it surely was not Elena.

She slowly walked up to him and as she put a hand to his chest, she brought her lips to his neck and licked the blood that had dried on his skin. "Don't pretend you don't understand the meaning of my question. But I'll spell it out for you anyway; did you ever kill so many people you couldn't dispose of them by yourself and had to call for help?"

"When did you start looking up to Katerina so much that you took it upon yourself to be even worse than she ever was," forever maintaining his composure. He was trying to provoke a reaction in her, trying to force her to face what she had done instead of running away and hiding in that sultry behavior.

As Elena looked at him with teary eyes, he knew he had succeeded, but didn't know how long it would last. "You're right, I'm exactly like her. I mean, look at me. Toying with Stefan and Damon just like she did. Throwing myself at you like I am some kind of whore. Killing people just for the pleasure of it. Beheading people," she was barely understandable, the sobbing increasing with every word.

"Elena, this self-pitying behavior doesn't suit you. Please, we've all done terrible things. Stefan is not an angel, Damon never pretended to be one, Caroline killed a nurse if I'm not mistaken and I certainly killed more than all of them combined. As for the beheading thing, I think you learned it from me, not for Katerina. We wouldn't want to blame her for everything now, would we?" Again, he succeeded in his purpose, as he heard her chuckle. "I remember Elijah. You're good at first impressions, I'll give you that."

"Can I take their IDs?" she asked, explaining herself as she saw the quizzical look he was giving her, "So that I can track their families down and make sure they are ok. Not that money or anything could compensate, I know what it is to lose someone you care about, but just to… I don't know, make sure they are taken care of. That I didn't make any orphans…" her voice giving out with her last words.

"I'll take care of it Elena. I'll take care of it. I'll take care of you, I swear. I failed you so many times before, it won't happen again." He stared at her with an unwavering gaze and she knew she trusted him with her life.

"Seeing as both Stefan's and Damon's teaching proved to be… hum, well, seeing as it turned out, would you mind staying with me until I'm fully in control?" Noticing his silence, she quickly added, "I mean, if I come back like this, Stefan is just going to try to teach me how to hunt animals like before, because he can't teach me how to drink from the vein, we both know what would happen. Damon clearly is not capable of restraining me, and neither is Caroline. I don't think Bonnie would like to watch me feed and then give me headaches when I lose control."

"Yes, I understand how that could put a strain to your relationship," he mused aloud.

"So I guess that just leaves you. I'm pretty sure you're strong enough and that you won't start killing everything you see just because you saw blood."

"Ouch. You just wound me Elena. I'm not used to being the last choice." He took a look at her, but when he saw that she was about to apologize, he sighted, "Elena, really, you need to learn about sarcasm. You bite every single time. It's getting to the point that I barely enjoy myself anymore, making fun of you being so easy."

"Well, I'm sorry for the cold shower." As the smell of blood suddenly hit her again and her eyes started to darken, he commanded her to follow, and ran from the bar, vampire speed, though slightly faster than her, prompting her competitive spirit to rise to the challenge. He abruptly came to a stop in a small alley, and she rushed right by him, only to come back seconds later, flashing all her teeth in a big smile. "That was fun! I'm not even thirsty anymore!"

"Physical activity quenches the thirst for a short time. As a new vampire, you're bursting with energy and you need to use it, so I thought it might do you some good."

"So, what do we do now? You never really agreed, so I guess we're going back?"

"Of course not, lovely Elena. You'll take a week off from Mystic Falls and I'll teach you the basics. Though I think your friends would like a call."

"Yeah hum… not sure what I should tell them…"

"You don't have to tell them everything Elena. Tell them you need to figure some things out and that judging your emotional state it'd be best if you spent some alone time.

"But I won't be alone, you'll be with me…" said Elena, not understanding.

"I just thought maybe you wouldn't want them to know, to make sure they don't worry about you being with me. Anyway, I'd advise you to call to tell them you're safe and that you will come back in a week's time. That should ease their worry."

She laughed upon hearing his first words, "Wait, you think they'd rather see me go completely out of control on a killing spree than learn to be a vampire with Mr. Self-Control himself? You're kidding right?" Her only answer was a raised eyebrow, probably for the surname she had subconsciously voiced, which prompted her to continue, "Yeah, you're right, I'll call them."

Elena quickly thought about calling the Salvatore's brother, but she was so ashamed at the idea, she knew she couldn't. Sometimes, lovers and family pale when compared to friends and the strength of the bond that unites them together.

When Caroline answered, she heard only relief, her voice void of judgment, and knew that she had called the right person.

"Oh my god Elena, you're ok! I was so worried. So much happened! You need to comeback, weird things are happening. Well nothing new for Mystic Falls right?" she was babbling and she knew it, but couldn't stop.

"Caroline, I'm alright. I'm just… dealing with some stuff, and I can't come back right now. I'm on an emotional rollercoaster and being there is ruining me. I already killed and as long as I can't control my emotions, I can't control my urges." She paused and then, unable to bear the deafening silence anymore, she added, "Caroline, I completely lost myself for a while and had Elijah not found me… I don't know where I'd be…"

"Elijah found you?!"

"Yeah, and he promised he would help me. He said it wouldn't take more than a week, so let's just pretend I'm on some kind of vacation…"

"More like detox…" laughed Caroline, until she realized her lack of sensibility. "Sorry Elena, I didn't mean that. Well, Stefan and Damon will be pissed… Stefan's gonna be broody about it, but at least silent… But Damon's gonna be unbearable. Ugh… why did you call me and not them, I don't want to be the messenger!"

"Because Stefan's gonna be broody and Damon unbearable."

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Hilarious."

"Anyway, what happened? Is Jeremy okay?" asked Elena, only now processing Caroline's first words.

"Yeah, we're all fine. Nothing to worry about. Quick wrap-up: Bonnie switched Klaus and Tyler back. Klaus isn't mad about you. He almost killed Rebekah, but he finally understood that Bonnie didn't tell anyone about her little plan, so when Rebekah killed you she was just embracing that whole Survival of the fittest thing. He told Stefan what an incredible moron he was, Stefan snapped, they fought, Stefan got his ass kicked, he was about to be killed, I promised Klaus a date, then they kinda made up and are now best buddies. Quite confused with that one, my only explanation is that Stefan lost his mind in his grief…"

"And I'm not supposed to worry about that? Caroline, Klaus could kill Stefan just because he's moody! And you can't go on a date with him! Just because you said it really fast doesn't mean I didn't catch it!"

"No, no, no! Their Facebook status would be It's complicated, but Klaus won't kill him, I swear. Anyway, April's back!" she ended with a squeal.

"The kid I used to babysit? Why?"

"Hum, her father died… Actually, Pastor Young blew himself up along with the rest of the Council… But not Tyler's mom, nor mine!"

"I am ending this conversation right now. Unless Jeremy is hurt, don't call me until I come back! You and I have a very different definition of _nothing to worry about_!" laughed Elena as she hung up.

Elijah just gave her a mildly interested look throughout the whole conversation and merely smiled, "Klaus will call me should anything seriously wrong happen. He has some… interest in the region and should stay for a while."

"You mean Caroline. You don't always have to talk in euphemism you know? I'm not some oblivious teenager, I can handle the truth and I certainly notice more than you give me credit for."

He just looked at her with that small smile of his, not showing any teeth, but mocking her with his eyes.

* * *

After her quick conversation with Elena, Caroline called the Salvatore brothers to give them a heads-up. No surprise there, they were mad; Stefan keeping it inside and Damon clearly not keeping it inside. Well, not her problem if Elena trusted her most. And if she had not been able to keep the satisfaction from her tone when she had told them just that. Now that she knew that Elijah was with Elena, she knew her friend would be safe and she felt as if some burden had been lifted from her shoulders. The Salvatore thought that the Elijah part was the most maddening, but to her, it was the most soothing. True, she knew next to nothing about the Original, but with the little she knew, she was certain of two things. First, he would never hurt her, and second, he would be a better teacher than any of them.

Caroline felt good; in fact, she felt better than she had in weeks. It was a good morning. She had just tried the stress relief bath soak her mom had bought her for her last birthday and it had been an amazing bath. She felt as a big jelly while she was baking some triple-chocolate cookies and knew it would be impossible to ruin her mood right now. The moment that thought came to her mind, she knew she had just jinxed herself. When she heard her doorbell ring, she was apprehensive of what she would find.

All she smelled was the lavender from her bath, and she could hear nothing over that old record of The Killers that had been blasting through the house. She was forced to resort to the basic human method to find out who was at the door, as she opened the door and found herself facing Klaus. With flowers in his hands. At seven o'clock in the morning. She closed the door and turned around, but as she never heard the distinct noise of her door closing, she turned back and saw that his foot had stopped it.

"I believe you owe me a day love."

She yanked the door opened and glared at him, "I don't think so. Have you seen Elena lately? 'Cause I haven't. No Elena, no day!"

"You asked me to find her, not to bring her back. And who do you think called Elijah and told him to come back from Europe? I did. He found her. A deal's a deal love," answered a cheery Klaus. Apparently he too looked as if nothing could ruin his day.

"Oh that's cheap. Playing with words like that. Well, I can do that too you know? Because if I remember correctly, and I do, I specifically asked for the _hybrids _to find her. Last time I checked, Elijah was a vampire, but not a hybrid. No day for you sweetheart," adding sarcasm for her last word.

Klaus just stared at her with a dumbfounded look. He kept trying to find a loophole, but the only conclusion he arrived to was that she had just outsmarted him. Big time. As he realized that, he knew he should have been mad, but he couldn't find it in himself to be mad, he was amazed. A small chuckle escaped him and he ended his thirty seconds pause, "I stand corrected, you are no angel, for no angel could ever torture my poor soul as you do on what seems to be a daily basis.

"Poor soul?" she scoffed, "Klaus, you are many things, but delusional has never been one of them! As for the daily basis subject, just don't talk to me every day and I won't have to turn you down! Goodbye now." She tried to close the door, but he still wouldn't let her.

"Caroline, you are being delusional yourself if you think I will ever give up. I'll pick you up at seven in three days. Don't be late."

Klaus took the doorknob from Caroline's hands and closed the door as he left her there, completely speechless.

_**Soooo, I will get on that Hunter thing next chapter, I just wanted to get that done. Basically, next chapter, Elena will learn to control herself and Klaus will learn about the Brotherhood!**_


	6. Questions

**Always and Forever**

Chapter Six

_**Sorry for the late update, I was really mad because of Kol's death and I couldn't write anything! The chapter is longer, I found some inspiration at 8 in the morning…**_

_**Anyway, I now have to include Kol here, because he died. And I was so sure he wouldn't, because, what's the point in a spin-off in half the family is dead? So I'm trying to be optimistic and I'm trying to convince myself Silas will resuscitate him… Maybe as a human? Anyway, here is you LMotD!**_

_How am I supposed to feel?  
You strike at my Achille's heel  
With everything that's wrong I can't make right  
If I wait another hundred years  
The whispers set against the tears  
I'm never gonna be that shining knight_

_Black Lab – Say goodbye_

If Elena had been human, she knew she'd be dying from a panic attack at the idea of going to hunt again. She remembered what she had felt in the alley, when Damon had tried to teach her. She had known it might happen, and it had scared her, but she had put her faith in Damon. As much as he loved him, she realized what a mistake that had been. However, knowing that Elijah would be there with her didn't ease all her worries. It helped a little, and she trusted him with her life, but mostly with others'… What truly scared her was that if she couldn't control herself, even if she killed no one, she'd have to live with the fact that she'd have wanted to, and the only reason she didn't would be Elijah.

Elena was sitting on the edge of her bed, waiting for Elijah. After that night he had found her, he had rented two hotel rooms for a week, had told her to go to bed and that he'd wake her in the morning to begin his teachings. She had done as she had been told, and went straight to bed. She spent four hours her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling, her mind torn with anxiety. Around six in the morning, she gave up the idea of sleep and went straight for a shower, trying to clean herself for the third time, but she got out, she still felt dirty.

As she waited for Elijah, trying to keep a blank mind and also trying not to think about the taste of blood on her tongue, she heard the Original knock on her door.

She stood up and went for the door, fidgeting with her hands as she looked apprehensively at Elijah.

"Elena, you need to move in order for me to get in your room."

"Oh, eh, yeah sure."

"Elena, relax, please, we're not going immediately. I'd like to start with some verbal instructions first."

"I'm not sure I'm following…"

"The thing is, Elena, as long as you think the way you do, you're never going to learn self-control."

"What's wrong with the way I think?"

"The exact same thing that is wrong with Stefan's. You are unable to cope with what happened and you reject what you've become. Even if you've completed the transition on your own, you are still fighting with your nature. Take Stefan. He believes vampire are monsters, so when he stops fighting, he becomes exactly what he fears. You are the same. Vampires have hurt you and you brought your fear and hatred with you when you transitioned."

"Elijah, vampires kill people to live. How can I not hate that?"

"You will not like what I'm about to tell you, but I hope you'll accept it with time. As a human, you have always been taught to believe that you were on top of the food chain. You kill to survive and you have accepted that as part of your daily life. Now that you know about supernatural creatures, you should understand that humans are not the ultimate predator, vampires are." He paused briefly, trying to put his thoughts in order, but Elena took that as an invitation to speak.

"Elijah, that's not exactly helping…"

"Let me finish Elena. As I was saying, you see no wrong in hunting animals. Moreover, you see no wrong in herding animals just to slaughter them when they grow up. When a bear kills a human in nature, you see no wrong. Animals kill when the need arise, while human kill in mass and throw away a lot. Actually, theoretically speaking, obese people are worse than animals, because they eat more than they need. You, however, live a life without too much food abuse. As a vampire, you also have that choice. You can choose as Damon and feed for the fun of it, whenever you feel like it, or you can feed when you need without killing anyone and still enjoying it. Feeding doesn't have to be torture for your soul, Elena."

"That's a lot to take in. Logically speaking, I understand what you are saying. I'm not sure I'm ready to accept it all though…"

Though Elijah was glad she was listening, he knew they did not have much time to get her to control herself, because soon, she'd be hallucinating. He kept looking for the signs and was always watching her closely. He remembered what it had been for Klaus, and Klaus only survived because he could not die, no matter how bad he had wished he could. However, Elena's life, even as a vampire, was so fragile; he feared her death more than anything else.

* * *

After talking to his brother, a twirl of emotions took over Klaus. He didn't really care about the hallucinations Elena was bound to have. However, he did care about the implications of the presence of the Brotherhood of the Five in America, especially when he thought they were extinct. He was not scared, but he certainly was worried, because he knew they had the means to kill him. Their sole purpose was the destruction of vampires, and as long as Originals lived, vampires would.

Though Klaus barely admitted it to himself, he knew that part of the reason he wanted to save Elena was because she was Caroline's best friend.

Klaus sighted as he took out his cellphone and dialed Caroline's number.

"Caroline, I'm sorry, but I have some business that requires my immediate attention and I have to cancel on our date."

The formal empty tone startled Caroline and she knew something was off, because Klaus was always playful when talking to her, "Not that I mind, but you seemed pretty intent on taking me out tonight… Is there something I should know?"

"And what makes you think that you are so important to me that I can't have business of the utmost importance? I'll call you to reschedule," hanging up without waiting for a reply. Klaus hated what he was saying, but he couldn't have her worrying about her friend, because that would put her in harm's way.

* * *

Elijah had left the room a bit earlier to make a call, claiming that he'd be back shortly. So when the door opened, Elena did not expect Katherine to walk in. No matter how long she lived, she'd never get used to seeing her body move with that sultry way.

"Enjoyed yourself on a killing spree lately? I've always known you were the jealous type, but really? You want to beat me to the title of bad of the year?"

"Katherine. What are you doing here?"

"And you even got Elijah to help you. Well, been there, done that, you know? You've slept with Stefan, you've kissed Damon, you've fed on Elijah. Only Klaus is left now is that right?" she smirked.

Seeing Elena wasn't answering, Katherine continued, "I don't know what's funnier; that you think you can learn to control yourself, or that you think your friends will still love you when they learn what you have done. Come on Elena, you know better than that. You are a killer, there is no way you can control yourself. Stefan loathes himself for what he has done. Don't delude yourself into thinking that he won't loathe you too. You are a monster Elena, and monsters should die."

When Elijah came back, he saw tears running down Elena's cheeks while she was looking right through him, as if he didn't exist. She was sobbing and suddenly, she stood up, broke a chair and made a move as if to stab herself with it. Quickly, he stopped her and looked for some sign of recognition in her eyes.

"Elena, it's me. What are you doing?"

Completely incoherently, Elena hiccupped some words, "Monster. Let me die. Kill me. I killed-"

"Elena, you slipped. We all have. It's okay to feel bad. You don't have to die. Do you really think your friends would want you to die?" He painfully added, "Do you really want to leave Stefan alone?"

"Stefan would hate me. And Bonnie will hate me too. Everybody will hate me." She suddenly remembered another conversation she had with him and her attitude changed, "I thought it was you who said I should think for myself and stop making my life about others. Why are you using Stefan now?"

Elijah looked at her like a deer caught by the hunter, "I thought his name would bring you back to your senses…"

Elena quietly laughed, "You brought me back, with your really bad manipulation techniques. It's just Katherine… she told me…" But she could finish, because somebody else had stepped in the room, "Mom."

Elijah hoped that Klaus would hurry up and find a solution, because seeing Elena speaking to people whom only she could see was breaking a heart he did not know existed anymore. She kept begging him to kill her, and he just kept holding her in his arm to ensure that she wouldn't hurt herself.

* * *

Bonnie was mourning the loss of her magic when she heard a knock on the door. As she opened it to see who dared to disturb her in her totally non-busy moment, she saw Klaus in her doorway and knew her already bad day was about to get worse.

"What the hell do you want with me? You're alive, in your body, I lost my magic. Be happy and leave me alone."

"Believe me, witch, I would. But you and your friends seem to be some kind of trouble magnet, and apparently my dead Doppelgänger is proving to be a pretty powerful one. Now, let me in will you?"

"No. We can talk like this. Tell me what happened. I thought Elena was with Elijah… He would never hurt her!"

"Oh, how perceptive of you, you too have noticed his little infatuation before even he did. No, my brother did not hurt her, in fact, as we speak, he is the only reason your friend is not dead."

"Klaus, I don't care about your cryptic little games. You came here for a reason. What is it?"

"I need your… help," the last word burning his throat. "I need you to do some research about something, and I need results fast."

"No improvement on the cryptic problem. If you want my help, you better tell me exactly what is going on and how it affects Elena."

"Ever heard of the Brotherhood of the Five, witch? Ever saw this symbol," as he showed her a drawing.

"No, and yes, in my Grams' book. I never thought much of it. What is it?" Bonnie was now curious, because if Klaus needed her help for information, things were probably pretty bad.

"What an ignorant witch you are, not knowing anything about your own history."

"Cut the crap, Klaus."

"The Brotherhod of the Five was the witches' answer to the vampire problem. They are stronger and faster than normal humans, about as strong as a vampire. There are five of them, and their sole purpose is to end the vampire race."

"So far, I don't see why I should be worried; to me, it looks like they are really nice people," heavy sarcasm coloring her voice.

"You wanted to know everything, well shut up while I'm talking. I thought they were extinct, but clearly I was wrong, seeing how Elena killed one of them."

"There again, I fail to see the problem, if Elena so kindly got rid of him for you."

"I killed five of them at one point in my life. Killing a Brother is a messy thing. You witches truly are cruel, but also conniving. See, their death is only the beginning, because it brings hallucinations to their killer. Convincing hallucinations," Klaus' eyes darkened at the remembrance.

"What kind of hallucinations?"

"Anything, but usually people. Friends and foes. They… say things… Things that make you regret… Things that make you want to kill yourself…if only to end the pain…"

"How are you alive then?"

"Not for lack of trying, believe me. I'm immortal remember?"

"But Elena is not," as realization dawned upon her. "How did you make it stop? Did you, make it stop I mean?"

"After fifty years of torture and suicidal behavior, it just stopped. I have no idea how, but believe me, Elena won't last fifty years. The hallucinations make you become… very creative."

Knowing it was Klaus' victory, she sighted and asked, "What can I do?"

"The Brotherhood of the Five belongs to the witches. Somewhere, there is an answer. Only you can find it."

"Okay. But before you leave, tell me, why are you helping her? She's of no use to you as a vampire."

"That is none of your business," turning around to find himself face to face with a blond vampire.

"Klaus, how dare you hang up on me? The I'm-gonna-be-mean-so-she-won't-ask-questions tactic is not only old, but also very bad," referring to the time he had called her to cancel their date. "Spill. Now."

Klaus chuckled and started rubbing his temps with his free hand, "Oh, Caroline, do you have the slightest idea of how infuriating you are sometimes?"

* * *

Bonnie was on her way to talk to a witch Klaus knew, and she'd have been fine on her own. However, Klaus had decided that his brother Kol would accompany her, and nothing she had said had made him change his mind. Playing the worried ex-boyfriend, Jeremy had decided to tag along, to protect Bonnie now that she was powerless. To Bonnie, it sounded pretty stupid, because as far as she was concerned, Jeremy was as powerless as her. Between the three of them, let's just say the dynamics were bad.

"Now, let me get this straight. You are the younger brother of her best friend. You dated a junkie. Became somehow a junkie yourself. That girl happened to be your sister's ex-boyfriend's sister. Then you dated a vampire who was using you to release her mother from a tomb Katerina was supposed to be in. That girlfriend also died. So you fell in love with you sister's best friend, which would be you," pointing in Bonnie's direction. "You died, she used forbidden magic and brought you back to life, tearing the veil between the mortal realm and the other side, which led you to be able to see ghosts, such as your dead ex-girlfriends. In the end, you cheated on the witch with a dead vampire… well a deader vampire, 'cause she was already dead. Did I get all of that right?" Seeing as both of them were silent, he decided to carry on the conversation all by himself, "When I woke up and realized I'd be stuck in Mystic Falls for a while, I figured I might as well ask Rebekah for a crashed course on your messed up lives. As always, my sister went overboard, but wow, she's good isn't she? Keep at it and if you're lucky enough, you'll end up even worse than my family, and that is quite a feat, or so I'm told!"

"I'm getting the silent treatment? A bit childish don't you think? Here I thought you'd thank me for keeping your lives safe. It's not every day that you get Kol Mikaelson to play the mere role of a bodyguard, you know?"

"I can protect her, Alaric trained me before he died," said Jeremy.

"We're there, shut up," said Bonnie. She was mad at herself for losing her composure, she had wanted so bad to just keep ignoring him, but he was just too much to handle. She felt Jeremy tense a little and turned to give him a reassuring smile.

"Aren't the both of you so cute? However, if I may give you advice-

No you can't," as Jeremy joined the conversation on an exasperate tone.

"I was merely going to tell her that were I her, I'd never trust your half-hearted love declarations. Sure, I've never known that stupid emotion called love, that you humans seem to be so fond of because of the way it turns your brains to nothing, but I know enough to realize that choosing a dead girl over an alive one is a pretty bad move."

The door Bonnie had been knocking on suddenly opened and Jeremy and her rushed inside, leaving Kol on the doorway, unable to come in since he had never been invited.

"You are not welcome here, Original. Go back to your brother," said a girl no more than sixteen years old. She had long wavy blond hair, almost white, and eyes as blue as the night sky.

"I would advise you not to keep me out witch. You know very well you are only safe in the threshold of these walls, but you do not spend your every moment in there.

"I can defend myself." Then, looking at a silent Bonnie, she asked, "What brings you here, sister? I am named Anyelle. I saw your coming in my dreams, but the spirits kept the reason to themselves," and she closed the door on Kol, who shouted angrily, "I can still hear you, stupid humans!"

"I come because I need answers and the spirits have taken away my powers."

She heard Kol's reaction through the door, "How bloody retarded are you? You just admitted you are powerless and you told her you no longer are nature's friend! Is there a limit to how dense you are?"

But the witch did not show any reaction to Bonnie's admission and she asked, "What did you do? I'm fairly sure the spirits would have warned me if you were dangerous. Tell me what you need me for and if I have your answers, I'll freely give them."

"Thank you, that means a lot to me."

Still waiting outside, Kol gave Bonnie yet another order, "Play your cards right witch, she does not need to know everything."

"Shut up Kol." Taking an apprehensive breath, she looked at the blond girl, "Anyelle, what do you know about the Brotherhood of the Five?"

Suddenly, Anyelle's whole behavior shifted, turning from warm to freezing in a split second, "You shall not ask about the Brotherhood of the Five."

"What do you mean? The Brotherhood belongs to the witches. It is in my birthright to know!"

"You shall not ask about the Brotherhood!"

"Bonnie, something is wrong with her! Come outside now!"

But Kol's warning came too late, as two men walked into the room. Not even slightly afraid, Jeremy asked, "Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"

"Well well, not so polite are we? See, we had questions about the Brotherhood ourselves, but the witch kept answering that we should not ask about the Brotherhood. We tried compulsion, but it didn't work. That's when we heard you, so we compelled her to forget about us."

"Bonnie, those vampires are not safe, come out NOW!"

"We think it is a witch's mechanism against vampires, but we thought maybe she would answer you; obviously, she can't, which means none of you are of any use to us."

"Wait, why do you need to know about the Brotherhood?" wondered Bonnie.

"I'd like to tell you to ask the restless vampire outside of this house, but I believe you'll be dead soon, which makes the whole idea of answers pretty idiotic."

Jeremy looked at Anyelle, who was completely immobile, and then he was attacked by his interlocutor, while the other attacked a powerless Bonnie. Quick to react, Jeremy avoided instant death and started fighting the vampire with a newfound strength and rapidity. He grasped a chair to use as a shield, but realized that in the right hands, it became a stake.

Using compulsion on a witch is always a tricky business, which is why most vampires don't meddle with witches. They are usually strong enough to break it. Anyelle was doing just that, and as soon as her mind was free, she started chanting a spell but was quickly shut up as the other vampire snapped her neck. He then turned to look at Bonnie, who had never felt so strongly the loss of her magic before.

The first vampire gasped when Jeremy put a stake through his heart and as his color turned to grey, the other vampire sunk his teeth in Bonnie's neck. Though she was expecting the pain, Bonnie surely did not know how to handle something so unbearable. She had always thought that if a vampire were ever to attack her, she would fight it. However, now that it was happening, she found that here was nothing she could do, as black spots were appearing in her eyes. Suddenly the pressure was gone and she fell to the floor. Through a hazy vision, she saw Kol rip the vampire's head off.

Always good with timing, Jeremy asked, "How did you come in?" But he saw Anyelle's lifeless body on the floor and understood.

Kol rushed to Jeremy's side, took him by the throat and started shouting, "You can protect her? I don't give a damn about your ego and your past relationship with the girl and your desire to prove yourself to everybody while there is not fucking anyone who gives a damn about you. You may delude yourself into thinking whatever you want to entertain yourself, but you do not get to put in danger the person I was asked to protect!" As mad as he was and as loud as he was, Kol was still a vampire. So when his hearing picked up the sound of a slowing heartbeat, he dropped Jeremy to the floor and came to Bonnie's side, biting his wrist and handing it to her.

Even though death almost had Bonnie in its claws, instinct kicked in, and she drank from the Original, regaining strength with each sip.


	7. Learning

**Always and Forever**

Chapter Seven

_**I am currently running a Pretty Little Liars Marathon… And I'm in love with Jason… And I don't like Ezra (sorry… I think it's okay for her to like him, but I think it's extremely wrong of him to be interested in a sixteen year old girl that happens to be his student… At least Elena is not Elijah's student **____**) Anyway, Jaria 3**_

"It stopped."

"What stopped Elena?"

"You know exactly what. The hallucinations have stopped. You can let me go now."

"Yes, of course. Remind me again why I should believe you?"

"Because I am telling the truth!" Though she was loudly protesting against Elijah's accusations, she couldn't feel insulted. The Original had saved her life, and he still thought he was doing so. Now that the hallucinations had stopped, she found herself slightly unnerved by their proximity. They were standing up, and he was holding her, crushing her back to his body. Her arms were standing still to her sides, and even if she had tried, she could not have moved a muscle. But being a vampire had its perks, because she didn't feel any pain though she had not moved for the last three days.

"Elijah, please, tell me what I can do to convince you!" begged Elena.

"Nothing. Even if the hallucinations have indeed stopped, you know exactly why I can trust you. So you will wait with me until Klaus calls me and tells me to let you go. Until then, I am not letting you go."

"Quite the romantic aren't we?" tried a laughing Elena.

"You've tried flirting before. It got you nowhere. You know what they say don't you. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. You have fooled me so many times I am beyond shame. First, you said you were off vervaine and I compelled you. You lied. And the second I turned my back on you, you tried to stake yourself. Then, I tried to lock you up, and though I made sure there was nothing for you to use to hurt yourself, you bit your wrist and let yourself bleed to death."

"It's okay, Elijah, I get it, you can stop now." Elena felt bad now. She knew the hallucinations were to blame, but she had put Elijah through so much trouble. And yet he had stayed with her through it all. She would have to find a way to thank him and that only had her worried, because how exactly do you thank an Original vampire?

Just hearing her defeated voice stopped Elijah from reining in his anger. It was one thing to save someone's life, but it was entirely different to save someone from themselves. It was breaking him to see her like this; it reminded him to much of Klaus. Elijah may not believe in any god, but never before had he prayed so much in his life. Klaus had hallucinations for half a century and nobody knew how they had stopped. Elijah did not think he would stay sane if he had to keep Elena alive that long.

"Stop? No Elena, I will not stop, because you are not stopping! After I gave you blood to replenish all that you had lost, you pretended to sleep, so that I would give you an opening. I relaxed for less than a second, and you took off your ring and tried to jump through the window. Being a new vampire, sun affect you much faster than others, I was almost too late. That is when I decided to never believe you again. I held you and heard you argue with your hallucinations. Then you suddenly stopped. And told me the hallucinations were gone. And I stupidly believed you; the wonder in your voice was overwhelming. You waited four hours to subdue my suspicions before you attempted _yet again_ to kill yourself! So no, Elena, there is absolutely nothing you can say that will make me believe you!

Hearing his broken voice, Elena decided that shutting up may be the best solution until Bonnie found something.

Bonnie was half unconscious as she was drinking Kol's blood. She did not know what she was drinking, but it was good. She had never drunk anything of the sort before. It was less liquid that water, and tasted like heaven, but there was also a metallic touch. Bonnie knew that with each gulp, she felt stronger, as if she was drinking liquid life. Suddenly, she was strong enough to understand exactly what she was doing and she was horrified beyond belief. She felt disgusted knowing that it was blood that was running down her chin.

"Get away from me!" shouted Bonnie, using her newfound strength to push Kol away from her. Much to his credit, he did move, because had he wished to, he could have stayed still and continued to force feed her.

"How dare you reject the blood of a thousand year-old Original vampire? It is a rarity in itself, and it is even rarer that it is freely offered as I just did."

The smirk adoring Kol's face betrayed his harsh words, but Bonnie was nowhere near ready to accept Original's humour. All she was thinking was that she absolutely needed to stay alive because if she were to die now, she'd become a vampire and she was not sure she's have the strength to refuse to go through the transition. She quickly assessed her surroundings, her head still a bit fuzzy about the previous events. She saw the two dead vampires, but she knew there could be more. She was not safe, and neither was Jeremy. Well, he did manage to kill a vampire after all. Maybe Alaric had trained him better than she thought. Then she remembered Anyelle and she frantically searched for her body. She knew that if Kol had been able to get in, it had to mean that she was dead, but she did not want to accept it. She got up and went to kneel beside her to check her vitals. Soon, she was no longer able to escape the painful truth that her life was over. She felt tears escape her eyes and mingle with the blood on her chin.

Jeremy had watched the whole scene in silence, unable to process so many things at once. He remembered the training he had with Alaric, but he had never been that strong, that fast, that _efficient_. He knew sometimes the learning process was slow, and suddenly a big leap happened in a night. But this was different. He felt different. But he was still nowhere near as good as a vampire, and certainly not as an Original vampire, as Kol had just kindly reminded him. And as Bonnie's life was slipping away, he was force to face the truth that he could not do anything to save her. As he watched Bonnie crying, he felt a jolt through his arm, as if his every nerve was on fire. He hissed and tried flexing his hand to make the pain disappear. However, when he looked at it, he saw black patterns weaving themselves on his skin. Jeremy was no fool. He had seen a similar drawing before, and it was Bonnie who had showed him. It was the mark of the Brotherhood. Jeremy was confused and he did not know what it meant. However, Jeremy knew it would be best for him to keep that information to himself until he knew exactly what it meant. If there was one thing he had learned since his life had been turned upside down, it was that knowledge was a powerful currency in Mystic Falls. And that the Original family should be kept in the dark unless it was completely unavoidable. The pattern stopped between his wrist and elbow and formed a sort of drawing.

"What's the matter Jeremy?"

Jeremy's gaze left his arm to meet Bonnie's concerned eyes. Her worry contrasted heavily with Kol's annoyance. Jeremy realized he had fixing his arm silently for the last fifteen minutes. Shaking himself to come back to reality, he put on a concerned face and smoothly deflected the question by asking Bonnie about how she felt, only to be answered by Kol.

"My blood is potent enough. The witch is fine. Great even. No thanks to you mate. No thanks to the dead witch either. If I had been invited in, none of this would have happened."

But Bonnie knew Jeremy far better than that. The lying gene never had been part of Elena and Jeremy, though clearly Katherine, Isobel and John had long mastered the skill. She pressed him again, "Jeremy, whatever's going on, you know you can tell me!"

Knowing that as long as she kept calm, she would see right through him, Jeremy abandoned defense for offense, "It's just as he said… I realized that I wasn't enough to protect you. I let my pride win, and I put your life in danger… And he had to feed you his blood…"

Jeremy had hoped that reminding her of that would anger her enough that she'd blind herself to the obvious, and when he heard Bonnie growl, he knew she had dropped the subject.

"Well, all that is really awesome, but my brother expected answers, and if there is one thing that has not changed in a thousand years is my brother' reaction when he does not get what he asked for. Now, I am not really worried for myself, but if I were you, I'd start thinking about Plan B. But I am not you. So what will it be?" asked a much too cheerful Kol, the only one clearly not affected by the situation.

"What about you? Aren't you supposed to help us?" replied Bonnie.

"Ha! No, little witch. I was merely asked to protect you and seeing how you are still walking and breathing, with enough energy to be mad at me, I'd say I'm doing a pretty good job, would you not agree?"

His haughty behavior only added to Bonnie's anger, and she knew that in that state, she wouldn't be able to think about what to do. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled in order to find some peace. Once her mind was cleared from all her negative emotions, she saw a bookshelf full of spell books. She took one and quickly flipped the pages to get an idea about its usefulness. She did not see any relation to the Brotherhood, but there was some stuff in it that she had never seen before. Pointing at Jeremy, she said, "Take all the books you see and put them in bags, we're taking them with us." She then turned to face Kol and ordered him to check the rest of the house, especially the bedroom, for any hidden book.

"Already ordering me around? Be glad Klaus sees you as useful, for nobody gives me orders."

"Be glad I lost my magic, for you'd be fangless in a minute."

All Bonnie got for an answer was a low chuckle before Kol exited the room to do exactly as he had been asked.

Caroline was nervous. She had been worried sick about Elena since she had ambushed Klaus to learn the truth. She knew Elijah would keep her safe, but she did not know in what state Elena would return. Klaus had tried to hide it, but she had seen that shadow that had passed through his eyes when he had told her about the hallucinations. He had wanted to spare her the details, but she knew that the situation was worse than he had let on. And why wasn't Elijah back with Elena? She needed to be with her friends right now! If she wanted to die so badly, she needed to be reminded of all the reasons she shouldn't, starting with the people she loved and who loved her back! Unable to watch the TV without being completely restless, Caroline got up from the sofa, took her car keys and headed straight for the Mikaelson mansion. She had not even knocked that a dumbfounded Klaus opened the door.

"Caroline. What brings your lovely self here?"

"Why hasn't he brought her back? She should be here! With her friends!"

"Elena is… not safe to transport at the time."

"What the hell does that mean Klaus? Stop trying to sugar-coat it like you did at Bonnie's! Tell me what's happening to her!"

Klaus sighed and pinched his nose between his fingers, "Caroline, it's complicated."

"Well, since I'm so much more than a pretty face, I'm confident that I can keep up!" answered Caroline, only to be met with a full-hearted laugh from Klaus.

"Yes, I'm sure you can too. My intent was only to spare you the sadness of knowing the situation. Elena has been hallucinating for a week and tried to kill herself multiple times during the first days. As a result, Elijah has not let her move for the past three days. Transporting her back here would be troublesome and counterproductive, because seeing as the Salvatore, well mostly Stefan, might just kill her to put an end to her misery."

Caroline's eyes threatened to pop out of her sockets as she quickly told Klaus that Stefan would never be able to hurt Elena in any way.

"Love, stupidity is what drives the Salvatores. I wouldn't put anything beneath them."

"No, Klaus, you just don't get it, don't you? It is love that drives them. But you can't understand, because you don't understand love!"

Klaus had never liked being on the receiving end of insults; his usual answer was usually to be thrice as mean to make him forget words could hurt him a thousand times more than physical violence, "Oh and you do? Is that why you are still with Tyler though he admitted cheating on you the second he went away?"

And it worked, Klaus could see the hurt weighting on her features. And when she spoke with hate laced with her every word, Klaus almost felt bad. But he had that ability to only focus on the words themselves, without the emotion they usually carried.

"Well, since you ask, you should know that I am not with him anymore. I tried to get past it. But I couldn't. So yes, I do understand love, because I let him go. I still love him, but I guess Tyler just isn't the person I fell in love with. Not anymore. So laugh all you want, but I still love the memories I've got.

"Wait. You broke up with him? But you said―" Klaus still couldn't believe it.

"Yes. I know what I said. I said we were still together… Well, I lied. You already know he cheated on me… Well, I am not the forgiving type, especially about that. I really tried, but at some point, I just realized that maybe it wasn't meant to be that much work. Unfortunately, I can't just turn my feelings off. So I'm stuck loving someone who doesn't exist anymore! The Tyler I loved wouldn't have cheated on me… Sorry, I won't jump right into your arms! Is that what you were expecting?" Caroline was a mess, and she knew it. Usually, when she acted like this, there was alcohol implied. However, Klaus had a talent to unnerve her and lower her inhibitions.

"Oh teenage hormones. What a heartbreaker they are. I'm sorry he could not… be a better man."

"What? No gloating?"

"Because you are sad? Do you really think that low of me? Wait, don't bother answering, I already know."

"I just thought you'd be glad Tyler fucked up…"

Klaus paused, pondering his words and, at the same time, letting Caroline know that he was about to be completely truthful. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. But I know it makes you sad, and that makes me wish he had remained faithful to you. I wish you had left him because you had stopped loving him rather than because of a betrayal. But I am glad to know I was right about him."

"What, you're gonna pretend you knew the whole time he was going to cheat on me?" scoffed Caroline.

"No, I'm gonna pretend I knew the whole time how stupid Tyler is. Cheating on you proved me right. Any sane man would never even think about cheating on you. I never would. But I guess you can't expect much from teenage hormones…"

"That is complete bullshit! I have those teenage hormones! How do you know I wouldn't cheat on you? I mean, while we're at it, we could have an open relationship, just to make my teenage hormones happy!" And just like that, Caroline knew she had made a mistake by openly admitting the possibility of a relationship between the two of them. She'd be a liar if she said she had never thought about it at least once. Or twice. But he wasn't supposed to know that. Ever. The only defense she had left against him was that he thought she'd never fall for him. If he realized that the brick of wall was in fact just a paper tower, he would tear it apart and claim her, which she clearly wasn't ready for. Yet.

"Love, you are utterly mistaken if you think you'd be able to even acknowledge another man once you'd been with me. I would rule over your teenage hormones like a king and you would stand by my side like the queen you were always meant to be."

Caroline wished she could have thought of a witty reply, but when she saw the complete devotion he had in his eyes when he looked at her, she couldn't help but be in awe. How could a twenty-first century being possibly say such cheesy things in such a serious tone and yet pull it off? It was a mystery Caroline needed resolved, because at the rate he was going, she was falling way too fast for her own good.

Back at the Salvatore's house, Damon, Stefan, Jeremy and Bonnie were trying to figure out a way to save Elena. There were books covering the entire floor, some opened, some closed. There seemed to be no purpose behind the madness, but sometimes, there is a reason for the lack of order. Even if there were four of them, none of them trusted the other to find the information much needed; they all thought they would find what everybody else had missed. They did not keep tabs on who had read which book; each only knew what he had personally read. It would take them much more time to go through them all, but that way, they were sure they would not miss the answer they were all looking for.

Bonnie's face appeared to be calm while she was slowly going through the pages of yet another book with amazing spells, but no information on the Brotherhood. However, inside, she was raging. If only she still had her powers, all of that would be so much easier! She could just close her eyes and let the spirits guide her toward the right book. Or, if none of the books were useful, the right direction. But no, the spirits could not care less about a vampire having hallucinations. In fact, Bonnie believed they were actually enjoying it, enjoying the irony of the doppelgänger-who-had-escaped-death having a death wish. And they wanted the Brotherhood to win. That trail of thoughts only brought Bonnie closer to despair. What could they possibly do against all the witches who had died since the Original witch herself if they were all bent toward the same goal? Their efforts suddenly seemed futile. At the same time, Bonnie wondered why Anyelle had hinted about the spirits approval when she had visited her. Why would they send Anyelle dreams about her arrival and then prohibit her from speaking about it when she had asked? It did not make any sense, and Bonnie suddenly realized that she needed to understand those mixed signals as much as she needed to know how to stop the Hunter's curse. Her instinct told her all of it was somehow related, and when you've got nothing else to lose, trusting your instinct usually is the right thing to do.

"I think I've got something," said Jeremy, when he came across a drawing that matched exactly the tattoo that had grown on his arm.

Bonnie did not even have time to ask him to show her the book that Damon had taken it and was trying, and failing, to understand whatever was written.

"This is rubbish! How the fuck do you know it is related to Elena?"

"Let me take a look Damon, I'll know." When Bonnie saw the page that had gotten Jeremy interested, she immediately understood Damon's confusion. It was indeed about the Brotherhood, but Jeremy shouldn't have been able to know that. It was written in Latin and protected so that only a witch could read it. _At least, the spirits still consider me a witch…_ She looked at Jeremy, analysing him. He seemed guarded and he had the same expression he'd had at Anyelle's. She had been right then; something was wrong with him. She had believed him and had attributed it to the fact that he had felt guilty about her injuries, but now she could clearly see that the reason for his discomfort ran much deeper than that. And since it concerned Elena, Bonnie could not just let it go.

"Jeremy, I know you are hiding something from me. You know you can trust me. What is it?"

Jeremy quickly looked at Stefan and Damon before he asked, "What is written on the page? Tell me, and I'll tell you how I knew this was useful."

Knowing he would end up telling her, Bonnie started reading the page and once again, she felt despair take over. Tears started building in her eyes, "Okay, there a lot of info in there… The Brotherhood was created to kill vampires. With their life they would bring death and with their death they would bring eternal misery. The only way to end the misery is to complete the Brother's mission, which basically means that if Elena kills herself, she will be free."

"And you would enjoy that wouldn't you? One less vampire to worry about!" spat Damon.

"Damon, stop. Bonnie, please, check again, surely there is another solution. Elena's death cannot be the answer. I will not accept it!" begged Stefan.

Bonnie went back a few pages and started from the beginning, hoping to get a hint about what they were dealing with. Fortunately, the book she was holding was quite precise and hopefully accurate. "I think I have something, though I don't know how we're gonna find it…"

"What is it?" asked a hopeful Jeremy.

"It's in the history of the Brotherhood. Five were created, and five there must always be. So, and please understand that it's written in Latin and I could very well be wrong in my translation, I think it says that when a Brother dies, his spirit remains until another Brother is born… Oh no! wait! There's more! At every moment, there are multiple potential hunters. So the spirit of a dead Brother does not really remain until another one is born, but until another one is awakened!"

"How do you awaken a potential?" questioned Stefan.

"By getting him to kill a vampire. I'm guessing that's why Klaus had the hallucinations for half a century before they stopped. Many potential hunters probably never killed any vampire and the Brother's spirit got stuck with him!"

"And how do you find a potential Brother?" asked an impatient Damon.

"Well, that's the thing," Bonnie paused, not knowing how to deliver the bad news, "Potential hunters bear no specific mark before their awakening. Afterwards, a tattoo appears on their arm, growing with every kill they add to their list. But here's the catch, the tattoo is only visible for Brothers and potentials! And potentials are not aware of what they re until the tattoo appears after their first kill!"

"So basically we're fucked?"

Though he had mostly kept to himself since the beginning of this conversation, Jeremy knew he had to face the truth, "No, we're not." When all eyes turned toward him with a confused look, Jeremy continued, "I… I have that tattoo on my arm."

"It appeared at Anyelle's right? That's why you were acting weird!"

"Yes, but there is something I don't understand… If I am an awakened hunter, how is it that Elena shill has those hallucinations? Shouldn't they have stopped?"

"Damned Originals! Stefan, he's been playing us for a week! He took her and never planned to bring her back! He must have compelled her!" Not waiting for a reply, Damon just used his vampire speed to exit the room.


	8. Control

**Always and Forever**

_**Thank you to those who reviewed, to those who favorited and are following either the story or me. It is my first fanfiction but I get giddy every single time I open my email account and there is a new message about As Long as We Both Shall Live 3 **_

_**To Lotheriel and HisSecretLover18: It's funny, but until recently I had no idea where I was taking this story, I just had little moments I wished had happened and I write around these moments. I built a story based on that, and the fact that I don't really like where TVD's writers are taking season 4. When I go to sleep, before I fall asleep, I always think about what I'll write and sometimes, I get a really good idea and I end up re-writing everything. Oups…**_

_**Now, your LMotD **___

_But do not ask the price I paid,  
I must live with my quiet rage,  
Tame the ghosts in my head,  
That run wild and wish me dead.  
Should you shake my ash to the wind,  
Lord, forget all of my sins,  
Oh, let me die, where I lie,  
Neath the curse of my lover's eyes._

_Lover's eyes – Mumford and Sons_

Chapter Eight

"Seeing how I'm probably not gonna move for a while, that it might be nice to talk AND that you're the only person around, wanna talk with me?" Waiting for an answer that she knew would not come, for Elijah was still seething with anger behind her, she continued, "Anyway, I can talk alone too, and since you are not going to move, you'll have to listen to me, isn't that absolutely awesome?"

Still, he kept silent.

"So, I've been thinking. A lot. About what you said, you know that whole predator versus human thing? Well, I don't really like to think of myself as the big bad wolf, but there is some sense in what you said. At least, I tried to make some sense and came up with a truth of my own, which we will have to put to the test as soon as Bonnie or Klaus calls and makes you realize you've been holding me for three days for absolutely no reason. I'm sure you'll feel incredibly embarrassed, so we can have the whole "I'm sorry – I forgive you" talk now if you wish? No? Since you obviously want to, you should know that I find it very difficult to be mad at you when you're doing something wrong for reasons so obviously right. I know you'll feel bad anyway, and you'll retreat behind you righteous self, maybe even grace me with a letter, but there will be no need to." She felt him stiffen in the slightest at the mention of the letter and made a victory dance in her head. She was breaking his defenses. Soon, he would talk to her. She absolutely hated that he did not want to speak to her. She viewed it as a challenge, and Elena Gilbert was not one to back down when facing a challenge, no matter how impossible the task may seem.

"Back to my adapted truth now, shall we? So, I'm not scared when I'm facing a cat or a dog, and not because I know I'm stronger than them. Sometimes I think spiders are stronger than me… And I swear rats are! Anyway, not the point." A small chuckle escaped Elijah, much to his surprise, and Elena's. Knowing she was close, she pressed the issue, "I am not scared because I am in control. And as a vampire, I should not be scared because I _am_ in control. When Damon took me to that bar, I was afraid of losing control, because I assumed I wasn't in control. But I was. And I am now. I am stronger than my cravings. I was reluctant to admit it, because the moment I acknowledged it would mean that I was in control when I killed those people. But I don't think I lost control, I think I took control, over my life and over theirs. I did whatever I wanted. But if I go feeding now, I don't think I would kill anyone, because it would be like going to a farm. You don't kill cows because you are hungry. Blood is my food, but I can eat whenever I want to. Just like when I used to eat lots of cupcakes because I was sad and I felt guilty right after… Oh God I'm comparing humans to cows and cupcakes… This is so wrong." Whined Elena. She paused before giving the final blow, which she knew would be fatal to Elijah's muteness. "Anyway, you get what I'm saying. I am the captain of my fate; I am the master of my soul."

"I am the _master_ of my fate. I am the _captain_ of my soul. William must be rolling in his grave hearing how you are butchering his words. If you want to quote Invictus, I strongly advise you to get it right."

Elena let out a small laugh, glad her plan had worked. She did not know very well Elijah, and he was quite difficult to read, but she knew he would not resist correcting her if she hurt his ears. "Wait, you knew him?"

Elijah decided to stop pretending he wasn't listening to her. Ignoring people was a childish way to use to deal with his anger, and it was below him. Being condescending, however, was not.

"Yes, young girl." Sounding detached on purpose. "I was truly overwhelmed by grief when he passed away. He had a gift for words."

"You must have seen so much," said Elena, wonder in her voice.

"I have."

"Come on! Are you going to make me beg? I thought you were an honorable man."

"I am not a man."

"No, you're not. You are a child. A spoiled child!" Elena wanted a conversation, and in the state Elijah was in, he was not very talkative. Angering him more might not be the best idea, but she was fed up with his attitude, and frankly, anger was still better than nothing!

"Says the teenager." But now Elijah was smiling. The joyful banter was refreshing after days of whining. Even if it was just a lie, even if she was just pretending so that he would drop his guard, he would humor her.

And so they kept talking.

While her friends had been trying to find a solution for Elena for the last three days, burying their nose in dusty books, Caroline had been slowly going crazy. The last time she had seen Klaus had scared her to death. Whenever he wasn't there, she could find thousands of reasons to hate him and not a single one to like him. Once, with a lot of efforts, she had even managed to convince herself that he was not extremely handsome. That the mere sight of him did not give her naughty thoughts, all the more naughty because it was _Klaus_. But honesty was the first step to acceptance. And who knew what followed acceptance? She had tried to rationalize everything, being her usual Caroline. She had blamed it all on the accent. The accent truly was unfair. It was basically the same as giving ammunition to Chuck Norris against an ant. The fight was already unfair, why give the assailant a bonus? And then he would talk to her. And all the walls she had built, that she had sworn were solid enough to survive the end of the world, were blasted away. When she was with him, she forgot the madness she lived in. She became only Caroline, and he was just Klaus. So earlier today, when he had finally called for the date previously cancelled, she had known she shouldn't have been eager for it. But unfortunately, there is a difference between what you know you should do, and what you actually do. Caroline was more than eager, and Klaus only made it worse when he had refused to tell her where they were going. Caroline had spent an hour in the shower, half an hour applying make-up in a subtle way so as to make it look as she had done it in a couple of minutes and two hours curling her hair. Well, an hour looking in the mirror wondering what to do and an hour actually doing something. By the time it was noon, the only thing she had left to decide was the most important: what to wear? She had to be careful, because too much was as bad as not enough. She would have liked to really not care and put on some baggy pants along with an overused shirt, but she cared. She would not look needy and betray her feelings well concealed until now by putting on one of her I'm-sexy-and-I-know-it dress. She cast a longing look to her floral skirt, but knew that showing that much of her legs would be torture for him as well as for her. She ended up with tight jeans and a pink shirt, putting on a blue blazer when she heard him knock.

"Where are we going? You wouldn't tell me so it took me forever to decide what to wear!" she cringed when she saw the smirk and waited for him to answer.

"I am thrilled to know you thought that much about me today, love. To answer your question, we are going to the park. It is, after all, only two in the afternoon."

"The park? You only have one date with me and you take me to the park?"

"Disappointed are we? Fear not love, we will have diner another day. I felt the park would be a less distracting place to get to know you, and for you to get to know me. Was I wrong?" the smile never leaving his raspberry lips.

"Less distracting than what?"

"Suppose I had taken you to a fancy restaurant. I would have worn a fancy suit. You would have worn a fancy dress. You would have had trouble focusing on my words, as I would have had trouble focusing on yours. A loss for both of us, considering how you are still very much afraid of your feelings, too much to consider allowing me to help you take off the dress later in the evening."

Klaus then proceeded to walk with a very silent and blushing Caroline to the park, talking enough for the both of them. As much as she hated to admit it, Caroline was not so sure about Klaus scenario. An official date for diner might be exactly what would have completely undone her. If Klaus had gone all out with her, because deep down, she knew he still held back whenever he was with her, she knew she'd have surrendered. In the end, Caroline ended back to square one, where he was just Klaus, and she was just Caroline. Feeling guilty had never been one of her strong suits, so she decided to simply enjoy herself until midnight struck. Caroline was painfully aware of every inch that separated her from Klaus, and she stopped breathing every single time his hand brushed past hers. The first time it happened, she had been incredibly lucky that a cyclist had fallen and cut his leg, because it had given her the excuse she needed to explain why the veins beneath her eyes had darkened and why her fangs had come out. It was indeed lust, but Caroline wouldn't fool herself into believing it was blood lust. For so long, she had thought that nothing would beat her lust for the red liquid. Apparently, she had been wrong; an almost touch from Klaus and her mind was completely blank.

They walked in the parks for hours, before stopping around a small pond. When Caroline saw the weeping willow, she had taken his hand without thinking and had led him to sit within the peace it offered. Once they were sitting, she had been horrified to see that she still held his hand in hers. Quickly, she had let go, but Klaus merely chuckled and took it back, bringing it to his lips, "I don't think so, love." Caroline gasped and got lost in his eyes. He looked at her like she was some prized jewel. Still confused about where her feelings were leading her, she nervously laughed and evaded his gaze, only to see _him_ right in front of them, in the middle of the path. Midnight struck six hours early.

"Where the fuck is your damned brother, and why the fuck hasn't he brought Elena back?" asked a very angry Damon. "And what the fuck are you doing with him Caroline?" turning his burning eyes to her.

"Language, Damon. Has your mother taught you nothing? Now, I thought Bonnie or Caroline would have explained that Elena cannot be moved as she is now."

"Don't play dumb! The hallucinations have stopped. In fact, they stopped THREE FUCKING DAYS ago. Back to question number one and two, Caroline, don't think I've forgotten number three, where is he and why isn't he back?"

Damon had the strange ability to not realize when his life was dangerously close to coming to an end. Interrupting his time with Caroline would have been a good reason to shorten his immortal life, but Damon had managed to make him curious. "How do you know they have stopped?"

"They stop when a potential hunter kills a vampire. The Gilbert boy was a potential hunter until he killed a vampire at the witch's place. Three days ago. The curse should have ended at that time." Damon paused and saw that the surprise in Klaus' eyes was genuine, but that wasn't exactly good news either. "Wait, if you didn't know, that means Elijah did not tell you. Did he take her away for good? The fucking bastard kidnapped her!"

Damon was coming very close to exploding, and Caroline thought it was time for her to step in, "Damon, calm down. I'm sure there is a logical explanation. Elijah would never take Elena against her will."

"Yeah, sure. And he would never take her hostage and leave her with his psychopath sister. Barbie, stay out of this."

Klaus' hand was around Damon's throat in less than a second, "I might be willing to overlook the fact that you interrupted my date when there was no life-or-death situation, and that you insulted both Elijah and Rebecca in less than a minute, both you will not ever again insult Caroline. Have I made myself clear?" as he gripped harder. Damon tried to speak, but no sound came out. "What was that? Sorry, mate, I didn't hear you."

"Yes"

Klaus dropped Damon to the ground and took out his cell phone.

Caroline knew only trouble could come out of the use of the word date. Endless questions were bound to follow, not by Damon, but certainly by Stefan, Bonnie, and Elena, as soon as she was back. And when she'd tried to explain it, she'd only remember the whole situation surrounding the word, and her friends would read her like the open book she would be. But even they would laugh at Damon's reckless behavior. Elena less than the rest of them, but she knew Bonnie would at least. Maybe she would even accept him. Caroline mentally slapped herself. What was she thinking, already planning on how to get her friends to accept the evil bloodthirsty vampire who had tried to kill them all at one point or another?

Back at the hotel, Elena wasn't the only one talking now. Because they were so close to one another, they felt the vibration each made when speaking through every fiber of their body. Somehow, they felt more connected than they had ever been. For hours, Elijah and she had shared so much it was unreal. She had told him things she had never told anyone before and she knew he had done the same. So much more was left unsaid, but somehow, at some point, words had become unnecessary between them. They had talked about the past, the present and the future. They had talked about their hopes and their plans. They were talking about travelling when Elijah's phone had started ringing.

"Don't even think about escaping while I'm on the phone. One arm is all I need to restrain you, and my focus is still on you." And, just like that, the spell was broken. They were back to caretaker and suicidal maniac.

"Who is it?"

"My brother."

"Mmmmm I smell freedom."

Taking the phone to his ear, Elijah answered, "Klaus."

"Brother, not that I actually care, but you asked me to help you, and though I had no reason to, the doppelgänger blood being totally not useful to me now, I did. However, I would have appreciated a call when the hallucinations stopped three days ago, instead of having my date with Caroline so rudely interrupted by one of the Salvatore, inquiring about the fact you had not returned though the curse had been lifted. Calling would have been the honorable thing to do. And you pride yourself in being a man of honor. Next time you need help, don't bother calling, if that is the way you thank me."

Elijah stiffened and said "I did not know the hallucinations had stopped." A little white lie. Elena had told him so and he had not believed her would be more accurate.

"Why, if I might ask? Because I am fairly sure she must have told you the moment it happened, no?"

"She did. I did not believe her. Remember how you were, Niklaus," urged Elijah.

Klaus remembered all too well. Noticing Elijah had used his full name, a slip he so rarely allowed anymore, the name being so tightly bound to their happy memories, Klaus knew Elijah too remembered those painful years when he'd had to protect his brother from himself, much like he had done with Elena for the last few days. When every single one of his siblings had left at one point or another, unable to face his pain any longer, Elijah had stayed by his side, for fifty-two years.

"When will you bring her back?"

"Tomorrow."

"I know I never said it, but Elijah, thank you. For staying with me back then."

Elena was surprised to hear those words coming from Klaus' mouth, but knowing he had never thanked his brother infuriated her. She had been with Elijah for a week and she had thanked him so many times that he'd had to establish a non-apologies rule for her.

"How dare you not thank him before? You claim everything you do is for your family but you are one selfish bastard!"

"I see she found the Petrova fire in death. Better late than never I guess…"

"Elena, Klaus, enough! Klaus, I will see you tomorrow," ending the conversation. Elijah suddenly remembered his conversation with Elena about embarrassment and hated to admit that she had been right. He wanted to bring her back to Mystic Falls and disappear from her life forever. He had been keeping her pressed to him for three days for no reason at all. When it was about keeping her alive, he had been able to detach himself from the proximity they shared, but now that she was not in danger anymore, it hit him. As if burned by fire, he let her go.

"Elena, I'm – "

"As I've said before, no need to apologize or feel bad. And don't even think about running away, because you still haven't taught me! You promised to! Now if Elijah Mickaelson starts to break his promises, I fear the world is coming to an end. You have to teach me!"

"And we wouldn't want the world to end now, would we? Take a shower sweet Elena, I'll bring blood bags for you."

"Why blood bags? You don't trust me? I said I'd be fine!" Elena felt slightly insulted, but knew she deserved no vote of confidence.

"Even an old vampire would have trouble with restraint after a fasting. I trust you, but believe me, no one ever died from being careful."

Elena took her sweet time in the shower. Not only did she feel dirty for the lack of cleaning in three days, but ever since her first kill outside the bar with Damon, she had felt sullied. She scrubbed her body until her skin felt raw, and even after that, she continued. She rinsed her hair so many times she lost count, but every time, she could still see blood going down the drain. After an hour, she finally understood that she would always feel this way. She stepped out of the shower, the towel around her body like sandpaper, her skin on the verge of breaking. She had forgotten all about a change of clothes, but Elijah, always ahead of… well everything, had put a pile of folded clothes on a chair just outside the bathroom. Though it did not belong to her, it felt like her. The man would never cease to amaze her.

She had drunk the two blood bags he had left her, emptying them in a glass before. Feeding from a glass always felt more dignified. And the fact the she could actually find the restraint to wait without tearing the blood bag through her blood lust spoke volumes. As if he was spying on her, as soon as she had finished the two glasses, he had knocked on her door, ready to take her out on her second hunt, but hopefully her first successful one. He asked her questions about what had happened in the bar, and had nearly growled when she had told him whom she had chosen and why. He'd expressed contempt for Damon, not understanding why the vampire had allowed it. Choosing a victim based on hate usually led to unnecessary bloodshed. Much like alcohol for a human, blood lowered a vampire's inhibition. Never making you something you don't want to do, but letting you acknowledge your heart's desire. In Elena's case, it had been a sense of justice, which got lost in a desire to control every one. Knowing your desires allows you to find better ways to fulfill them.

This time, with Elijah at her side, she chose somebody completely unrelated to her, somebody who didn't stir any feelings in her. A business man, with an attaché case, a suit and a cellphone in hand. Elena couldn't help but notice that Elijah pulled off the look way better, She had waited until he had hung up, and had taken him away in an alley. Not wanting him to feel any pain, she had compelled him and had bit him while he remained motionless. Elijah was nowhere to be seen, wanting to give her the idea of privacy. However, Elena knew he was close by, because he would never leave her all by herself. He trusted her to be alright on her own, but she trusted him to be there every step of the way. She had drunk what she needed, careful not to mess the guy's suit, unless, as a blushing Elena remembered, what she had done with Elijah's suit. She had stopped all by herself, had given the man a Disney band-aid and had compelled him to think he had promised his daughter he would keep it until the cat's teeth marks had disappeared.

Thinking she would be able to do it and actually doing it were two separate things; Elena felt stronger and so much more confident. Now that she had done it once, she knew she could feed from humans for the rest of her immortal life and never kill anyone if she did not wish it. Of course, she preferred feeding from blood bags, but she wouldn't have to be scared every time she was around humans. She turned around when she felt Elijah's presence and saw a smile on his lips that probably mirrored her own.

"Time to go home now," as he held his hand for her to take.


	9. Coming home

**Always and Forever**

_**Sorry about the delay, I caught the flu, and I'll spare you the details :) I loved last week episode and I reaaly want to know why Caroline is going to make Klaus miserable :) Elijah is coming back :D I heard there was an Elejah making out scene... :)**__**Victory dance :)**_

Chapter Nine

Caroline was tired of waiting. Klaus had told her Elena was coming back today, and she knew he wouldn't lie, nor would Elijah, but it was getting late, the sun had already disappeared, and there was no Elena. The irrational part of her whispered that something bad must have happened to her best friend, but the rational part had quickly countered that nothing would happen to her as long as she was with the Original… and not trying to backstab him.

Patience had never been Caroline's strong suit. She had many redeeming qualities, such as her unwavering loyalty and honesty, but sometimes her impatience outshone them all. Tonight was one of those times. While some people had tendencies to clean or cook to occupy themselves, Caroline had tendencies to pace and check the time every minute or so.

Tired of waiting at her home, she had decided to go to Elena's. The house was empty, Jeremy being busy trying to help Bonnie find more information about his… condition. Everything was happening at once, and it was almost too much to process it all. However, amongst this whole mess they found themselves into, Caroline's interest for gossip had not wavered. Her attentive eyes had noticed how Jeremy looked at Bonnie, once again. It was not her place to say anything, her best friend could decide for herself and wouldn't want her to meddle in her relationships, but Caroline hoped Bonnie wouldn't forgive Elena's brother so easily. Sometimes, broken things aren't meant to be repaired.

Caroline's pacing stopped when she heard a car stop in front of the house, and two doors opening and closing. There was laughter, both male and female. Elena's and Elijah. Caroline's worry suddenly disappeared and a weight she did not even know was there was lifted from her shoulders. She could not remember the last time she had heard Elena being so carefree. It probably was pre-Klaus, hell! pre-vampires period. She let herself fall back into the couch, waiting for her friend to come inside to surprise her.

The door opened, but the laughter did not subdue. She heard Elena sigh in contentment from being home. She asked Elijah to choose between tea and coffee, not before apologizing for the lack of choice in tea leaves. Caroline noticed how Elena's voice slightly tensed over the word coffee, and knew her friend hoped this would be his decision. Not that the Original would notice. From what Klaus had told her, Elijah would never choose coffee over tea.

"Coffee, please."

Well, that was surprising. She could not wait to tell Klaus he had been wrong. It did not seem to happen often enough for Caroline's pleasure.

"With a – "

"Spoonful of sugar, I know," ended an exasperated Elena. "You like to drown the taste… Probably the result of watching Mary Poppins so many times. Who would have thought the big bad Original liked Broadway shows?"

"I'll have you know the London cast was superior in many ways, Elena," smiled Elijah.

Caroline chose this moment to cough and make her presence known to the two oblivious vampires; the first should have noticed her presence the moment she stepped into her home, and the second should have the moment he stepped out of the car. Both jumped and when Elena dropped the cup of coffee she was holding, Elijah's hand quickly caught it before it shattered into a thousand pieces on the floor.

All things considered, Caroline should have let them continue their conversation until she was noticed, but her news could not be delayed any longer. Whatever had just transpired in front of her should have to be addressed later, because right now, time was flowing, and only the night remained for Elena to get ready.

"Elena, please tell me you haven't forgotten tomorrow is the Miss Mystic Falls day?" asked an apprehensive Caroline.

* * *

Once again, Kol had been asked to assist Bonnie in finding information. This time, his knowledge in Latin had come in handy. However, Kol spent most of his time studying the interaction between Jeremy and Bonnie. He found it hilarious to no end. The boy was quite obviously in love with the girl, while the girl was also quite obviously still mad about the ex-girlfriend thing. Kol had long since mastered the art of pretending to do something but actually doing nothing. With a book open in front of him, he analyzed the situation. As much as he would have liked to awaken and just go back to a life of leisure, there were some threats that even he could not ignore, such as threats to his family. The Mikaelson were all very much similar in their behavior when it came to family, and all had tendencies to go overboard to protect it.

The Gilbert boy being a Hunter was a game changing event. He knew something big was coming and from the time he spent in the company of witches, he knew that his family would need help to fight whatever was coming. The only witch they had was powerless, and even if she wasn't, she was so inexperienced that she would not have been able to do much against whatever or whoever they were facing. Thinking that was Kol's mistake, because Bonnie never was helpless, and never would be.

"Where is Bonnie?"

"She's right there," pointing to a very empty couch. "Well, I don't know where she is, lover boy. Your ex-girlfriend gave us the slip, I'd say."

How dare she escape him? She was supposed to stay still and look for explanation about the tattoo, or about the Hunter, or about anything! She was _not_ supposed to go off on her own to do god knows what. She was certainly _not_ supposed to be able to get out of a room without him noticing. His pretense of appearing engrossed in a book had turned out much closer to reality than he thought. Calling his brother was not an option, because he really had no excuse as to why he had let a powerless witch escape him. Maybe not so powerless after all…

"Million dollar question: where would she run to?"

Jeremy took a few seconds to think, but a few was too long for the impatient Kol, "Fast, Jeremy, time is precious."

"The cemetery. She'll want to see her grandmother!"

Jeremy's reasoning was not so wrong. Kol knew that in times of doubt and interrogation, family was second best only to solitude. But Jeremy was so young in so many ways, and he had most certainly not spent half a decade enjoying the company of witches. Kol knew Bonnie would certainly strive for the companionship she had lost. Bonnie craved for nature's touch, and she would try to regain it.

"How about you head there and I'll meet you? I'll give my brother an update on the situation."

Getting rid of the boy was not necessary, but it would certainly make things easier for him if he had to bring the girl back home with violence.

* * *

"Caroline?" asked an incredulous Elena.

Elijah made a small curtsy toward the blonde and said, "You probably have a lot of catching up to do. I'll take my leave then." He held Elena's gaze, silently exchanging information. As Elijah left, he briefly paused when he was next to her, as if to add something, but instead he gently squeezed her fingers. Caroline, curious about the new development in her best friend's life, had not missed the gesture.

"Oh my god! Elena, I can't believe you forgot! You promised you would help me!"

And just like that, relief washed over Elena. This was Caroline's own way to show her that no matter what she had done, she was still her best friend. This was Caroline's way to tell Elena she would always love her. If Caroline truly had wanted to ask questions, she could have. However, she did not, because she valued her friend's privacy, and she believed that Elena would tell her herself when the time was right.

"I'm sorry, my schedule has been a little overloaded recently…"

"Yep, I guessed as much! Which is why I've found for you the perfect dress and the perfect date. Am I not awesome?" as she showed Elena her gift.

"Wow, Care, you really outdid yourself, it's really gorgeous… And somehow, it is just so me… It's perfect!" smiled Elena. "Who's my date, by the way?" tilting her head to the side.

Well, that was surprising. Caroline looked at Elena a few seconds before answering, "Stefan. Is that a problem?"

"Oh of course it's not! By the way, who are we rooting for?"

"April Young. I mean, it's terrible, with everything that has happened to her."

"And who's her date? Because to become Miss Mystic Falls, you need a perfect date. Remember mine? Damon. And I didn't win!"

"Well, your date was really Stefan, who failed to show up… Anyway, it's Jeremy! He knows all the dances, thanks to you who practiced so much with him, and he wants to make Bonnie jealous, which won't work, but hey! The boy sure doesn't give up!"

"Change of subject please! I want to meddle in Bonnie's love life, but I don't want to meddle in my brother's! Who's your date?"

"I don't have a date. Matt is working, Stefan is going with you, I'd refer death to going with Damon, and I thought Klaus would ask me, but no. So I'm going alone. Maybe celibacy will become the new trend?" ended Caroline, with a wink.

"You seem sad that Klaus didn't ask you. Caroline, you can't be serious?"

When Caroline's mouth stayed shut, it was because she did not know how to explain something she was not sure she understood herself. Elena, however, guessed it was out of embarrassment and pushed the issue, "He's a murderer! He tried to kill me so many times I've lost count! He kept his siblings daggered for hundreds of years, he killed his own mother! The only thing you should feel toward him is hate!"

Of course, Elena was right. Everything she had said, Caroline had already told herself many times at night. She knew the facts, and would have accepted them coming from Stefan or Bonnie. But hearing this from Elena's mouth made Caroline explode with long repressed fury and she lashed out,

"How dare you, Elena Gilbert, of all people, say that to me?" asked Caroline of such a cold tone ice would have been proud, "I've never said anything about your infatuation with Damon, about the fact you kissed him, about the fact you love him! But if you want to criticize me so bad for my choices, let's take a look at yours shall we?"

"Caroline, don't try to make this about me!"

"You made this about you when you accused Klaus of trying to kill you! Rightfully so, might I add. Flashing news! Damon tried to kill me too, when I became a vampire! Damon also used me as a blood bag for quite a while, and you still kept me in the dark about everything! The memory came back you know. And it wasn't pretty! But that never stopped you, did it?"

"Caroline, it's not the same thing. Look I'm sorry, and I should have told you, but he changed! You know he has!"

"Yes, he has, but only because of you! Don't delude yourself into thinking that if you were to go your own way with Stefan, he would not go back to what he was! He's behaving only because he still has hope! And by the way, Damon has killed a lot of people too! If he was as old as Klaus, the numbers would be close!"

"Okay, I get it, Damon was bad news and that did not stop me from having feelings for him! I am sorry, what more do you want?"

"Nothing, Elena. By the way, Stefan killed his father too."

Caroline left Elena to reflect on that.

* * *

After leaving Elena to Caroline's clutches, Elijah had headed home. He felt the urge to talk to his brother. After all that had happened between them, there was still some tension, but when it mattered, they stuck together. They could all try to kill each other from time to time, but only they were allowed to wish the death of the other, no outsiders. They would easily give their life for a sibling's life, even if seconds after they would wish to take that life themselves. The Hunter's reappearance could only mean bad news, and usually bad news for the Originals meant bad news for everyone.

The moment he stepped in the house, Klaus was waiting for him, looking distraught.

"The swords, brother."

"What of them Niklaus? They will never find them, you and I personally saw to that."

Klaus started yelling, mad at his brother's calm, "It's a good thing one of us was worried then. I checked, and they are gone! The swords are gone Elijah!" He then continued on a much more peaceful tone, "You know what this means, don't you?"

Elijah was not one to waste energy in pointless arguing. If Klaus said the swords were not where they had kept them hidden for the last centuries, then it was so, and instead of focusing on the problem, Elijah would focus on the solution.

"Yes. They are coming."

* * *

Bonnie felt powerless and she hated it. Vampires used to be scared of her powers. There was a time when even Klaus was wary of her. That time was not so long ago. But here she was, reduced to be the bookworm, instead of simply asking the spirits for help. But the spirits themselves seemed confused about whether or not they would help her. It's like they wanted to tell her something, but could not. Bonnie was not one to stand idly by while her friends were once again in danger.

She arrived to the old witches' house and entered without thinking twice about it. She could feel the powers they held, and she was glad that she had this contact, even a contact as small as this one. She kneeled to the ground, and started begging for her powers. She talked about what was coming, about her fears for not only the vampires, but also for the humans. She talked about how Anyelle had died, and how strange it was that she could not speak about the Hunters. She apologized for saving Klaus life and knowing they were able to discern truth form lies, she added that she was not sorry she had done it, because as wrong as it had been, it had not felt right to send all of her friends to their deaths. Vampires may be against nature, but they were not all terrible monsters. Just like humans. Just like werewolves. Each werewolf had to kill to trigger the curse, each werewolf was a murderer. Bonnie talked about injustice, about what was right and wrong. She talked for ages, never receiving an answer.

She asked for baby steps. Giving her back all of her powers may be too much. But the power to defend herself and her loved ones seemed like a good start. Bonnie was ready to do anything to feel Nature's flow again. She felt so empty without her connection to magic, it was a part of her identity, the same way the color of her skin did. Bonnie was now crying, her face in her hands, a little mad at the witches. Elena being the doppelgänger, she had been fated to die. How was it better to create a being whose sole purpose in life was to die?

Esther may very well regret what she had created, but her mistakes had been out of love. To protect her family against the werewolves, she had made her children even more powerful. Esther had created a balance, and even if she had not foresaw what they would become, she should have known magic always come with a price. A thousand years later, she was still trying to undo her spell. Instead of trying to kill her children, which, by the way, was way more unnatural, she should have been trying to find a solution.

She heard someone shouting her name, outside the house, and recognized Kol's voice. How could he have possibly known where to find her was a mystery for Bonnie, but the fact he was calling her the same way you call a dog was making her burn with rage. She felt something break in her and for the first time in a while, she felt her powers coming back. She felt the witches approval, something that had it been voiced would be translated in, "Teach a lesson to that pain in the ass."

Bonnie was very glad to oblige. She got out of the house and faced a bored Kol, his arms crossed.

"You don't get to – "

He was suddenly flying across the clearing, only stopping when his back crashed in a tree. He fell to the ground, breaking every branch, everyone hurting him, though his skin was healing quickly and no mark was left when he dropped on the ground. He stood up, a little dizzy from his fall, and smiled at Bonnie, "Are you done practicing?"

No, Bonnie was not. And Kol learned that when a searing pain exploded in his head. Klaus had told him about it, but he had never believed him when he was saying the pain was so intense death would come as a relief. It stopped unexpectedly and when he looked at the witch, he knew it was not her decision.

"Lord, don't tell me you lost them_ again_?"

Bonnie was so alarmed that she forgot she was mad at the Original. This was different from when Nature had cut her out. She still felt the powers, they had not disappeared, but she could not access them. Something was blocking her. Something powerful. She ran back inside the house, never acknowledging Kol's question.

"It is as we feared." A tall woman with curly honey hair was waiting for her. Esther.

"Are you the one behind this whole thing? Are we never gonna get rid of you?"

"Mother?" asked Kol, torn between conflicting feelings.

"Yes, my son. Do not worry, Bonnie, I am not in the flesh. There are information you need to learn and we allied our energies to send you an emissary."

"And they chose you? Why? I don't exactly trust you, you know? For all I know, this is another one of your trap!"

"I heard you plea, young witch. You were right. I lost myself in revenge for a thousand years, never moving on, never learning from my mistakes. They wanted to send you Emily or your grandmother. I asked them an occasion to apologize to you."

Kol looked at her incredulously, "To her? Not to me? What of me, mother?"

"I know you are wounded, my son, but now is not the time to mend bridges. We have a much more pressing issue to address."

Esther had never been very motherly, but it still hurt Kol to be dismissed so easily.

"Bonnie, we are not the ones blocking your powers. The same witches who are behind the resurfacing of the Brotherhood cast a spell to make sure you would not be a hindrance to them."

"I don't understand why you are telling me this. The Brotherhood was created by witches to restore the balance a long time ago. Why would Nature suddenly be against them?"

"Our quarry is not with the Hunters. Their purpose is admirable. We are after the witches controlling them. Those are a black coven, using black magic, otherwise called expression. Our time is short, Bonnie, but go meet with Professor Atticus Shane. He will help you."

"Does that mean I'm powerless again?"

"No. Until you find a way to break this curse, we will lend you our energies. Because of the block, you will not be able to access it unless you use herbs and the old language. Even then, you will not be able to access a lot. Farewell Bonnie." She turned to her son and put her ghostly hand on his cheek, neither feeling the touch, "I love you, my son. I always have, and always will. Your friend here has opened my clouded eyes. I have seen the errors of my way, and will seek redemption. Please, thank Elijah for me, for looking after all of you when I failed you." And she disappeared.

When Bonnie turned to look at Kol, she almost, _almost_, felt bad. He had such a depressed look, reminding her that despite everything, he was just a boy who needed his mother's love. Then she remembered how terrible he was, and she was mad.

"Why are you here?"

"You've enchanted me with your spells, Bonnie, how could I not follow you?" laughed Kol.

Bonnie did not grace him with an answer; she just left and headed home, the vampire walking by her side. They had been walking for about ten minutes and the silence was threatening to make Bonnie crazy. Fortunately, Kol broke it for her.

"I don't know what you have told her, and I don't know if what she said was the truth, but thank you."

"I did not do it for you."

Kol chuckled, "I know. It doesn't change the fact that you did it, and that I am thankful."

When Bonnie did not answer, Kol broke it once again, "So, witches? I used to hang out with some of them back in the day. But they were nice ones. Energetic too." Kol smile at the memory.

"I don't need details. And yes witches. Bad witches who are going to pay for what they are doing to me."

"Ooooouhhh. Scary. What do we do now?" Kol was curious as to what Bonnie was up to. He knew what he would do. He would tell his brothers, and they would find a way to kill those witches.

"There is no we. I am going home. There is something I've been waiting to cast. You can do whatever you usually do, hoping that doesn't involve killing."

Knowing she would not tell him what the spell was about, he kept his mouth shut. But the curiosity was maddening. From what she had said, Kol knew it was something that had nothing to do with the current situation, because she had wanted to cast it before it all happened.

When they arrived back at her home, Kol accompanied Bonnie to her doorway, remembering how glorious she had looked when she was sending him flying in a tree.

"I need to tell my brothers about these new developments. Dream about me, little witch."

* * *

Bonnie had not time to lose. She took some candles and placed them in a pentagram. She was not ready to light them; she still needed some herbs, as well as her Grams' book. She also filled a huge basin with water and brought it in the center of the pentagram. She needed a mirror for the magic to work. Water would be a string enough vessel for the image she wished. It would have been better if she'd had a picture, but she was not sure what exactly she was looking for. Or who. The basin would do. It had to.

She lit the candles without magic, knowing the spell she wanted to cast might very well be too much for her limited powers. She started chanting and soon, she was straining. It was as if the block was alive. It knew she was trying to go around it, and it was fighting hard to restrain her. But Bonnie needed an answer, and she fought against the block until she saw a face in the basin. But not a face she knew. The face changed, and again. She knew what was going on, but hoped it would not take too long. She hoped she would get her answer before she lost her hold on her magic. Her nose started bleeding, but she did not care. The faces kept changing, until it finally stopped. Somehow, she was not surprised.


	10. Miss Mystic Falls

**Always and Forever**

_**Okay, not a lot of Elejah here, that was not the plan. This chapter ended up much longer that I had intended, so I cut it in half! But I really like where I'm going :) I don't want to rush things, but you'll understand where I'm going next chapter… hopefully. **_

_I'm not a selfless man  
I'm not a man of wealth  
If I had all the world,  
Probably give it to myself  
But the trees begin to walk  
And the ground begins to talk  
And myself_

_The River – Imagine Dragons_

Chapter Ten

"Whoooa! Stop! Stop! Those flowers go in the back, as indicated by the flower chart that you guys had plenty of time to memorize!" Seeing the girls turn back, she did not miss the roll of the eyes as well as the whispering about the crazy control-freak in charge on everyone. "Yeah! Thank you!"

She took another look at all the charts, and wondered for the millionth time how exactly she was supposed to pull this off. She only had a couple hours left, and there seemed to be so much left to do. And, of course, she still needed to shower as well as blow dry her hair and curl it. Of course, she needed to make time for make-up and… _Ugh_ she'd never be ready on time! The worse was that she could not leave for even a second, because clearly the staff was too dumb to read a chart correctly. She'd die before accepting that she could not organize this thing alone! Which reminded her that she would be alone all night long, no date to adorn her arm.

"Now, how did I know I'd find you at the helmet of this ship?"

Obviously, _he_ would be there to laugh at her while she was spending all of her energy on this event that probably seemed so pointless to him.

"Go away, I'm busy."

Klaus mentally laughed at her futile efforts. The more she fought the harder she'd fall.

"I was wondering what time I should pick you up tomorrow."

Did he really have the nerve to just decide she was her date and expect her to just nicely follow around? Clearly, he was about to know how mistaken he was.

"How about a quarter to never," Caroline gave herself a high five, feeling proud of her retort.

"Well, a little bird told me you found yourself in need of a date for this grand event that is the crowning of Miss Mystic Falls. Surely the reigning Miss Mystic Falls won't be hosting the party alone. And I assume you are not taking Tyler, not after his indiscretion with his lady werewolf friend."

Bringing back Tyler and the were-slut was a cheap shot, but she considered his offer. She indeed would benefit from a date, as she was expected to dance later and would be in a predicament in she was to take the floor alone.

"Fine! If you insist on coming, meet me here, 2 pm. Black tie optional." She started to walk away from him, and then remembered something important, "And I already have a dress, so don't even think of getting me so much as a corsage, you understand?"

Klaus only nodded, enthralled by the magnificent person that was Caroline Forbes.

* * *

Elena was fidgeting. Both Salvatore brothers were at her house, hovering around her, asking for news, worrying about her. While it was most welcome to know they would always be there for her, she had an appointment she could not miss. They had made her explain hundreds of times everything that had happened and she'd had to lie just as many times. She did not hide the murders, because she knew that to accept her responsibility in the situation, she had to stare at her mistakes straight in the eye. That way, she could also tell her mistakes to go to hell.

No, what Elena lied about was her unwavering trust in Elijah. She could not explain it, and did not want the brothers to get angry for something they should be thankful for, but she just knew some things were meant to be kept hidden.

As predicted, Damon had been condescending, trying to soothe her by telling her of how much worse he had been before he'd found her. He told her of some horrendous things he had done, as if it was supposed to help her. Once again, Damon proved to have the mentality of a child, unable to think about anything else than himself and his feelings for her, completely oblivious to her feelings for him, or her feelings for herself. The fact that he had done worse and that only her presence at his side kept him from going back to his old ways did nothing to appease her discomfort.

Stefan acted as the comprehensive boyfriend, playing his part with perfection. He showed concern and understanding, but none of it was what she needed. He had blamed Damon for taking her in that bar, and himself for not noticing earlier that she could not keep the blood down. Elena knew better than to blame others for her own mistakes, and laughed at the irony that Stefan seemed to be the martyr now.

She had planned her day very carefully, knowing Caroline would never forgive her if she were to miss the crowning of Miss Mystic Falls. She needed to be ready at 2 o'clock, and time was running short. Through all the craziness, Elena's attempt at normalcy had to remain unnoticed.

"Guys, I already told you, I'm fine! I feel guilty for what I did, but it is my guilt to bear, not yours. Damon, stop blaming Stefan, and Stefan, please stop blaming Damon. I created this whole mess, not you!"

Both brothers proceeded to deny her of any responsibility, but she would have none of it.

"No, really, stop! Today is Miss Mystic Falls Day, and I want to enjoy myself on this very normal day. Let's have a drama-free day okay?" slowly moving toward the door in an attempt to show them out.

But of course, Damon was not done, "Wait a little, Elena. You still haven't told us what happened after Elijah found you!"

"Nothing happened. We stayed in separate rooms, and then we came back!" surprisingly, the lie did not burn her throat as she had expected.

"Elena, Klaus told us about the hallucinations! You don't have to keep it all in, talk to us!" begged Stefan.

"Look, I was not in a very good place, but I'm perfectly fine now, and I'm not ready to talk about it yet."

Always unable to accept her refusal to answer, Damon pressed the issue, "But you didn't have any trouble talking to Mister Original-Backstabber about it, though?"

"He was there, and he kept me alive, Damon! What more do you need to know? I wanted to kill myself, and I tried multiple times, and he kept me from doing it! So instead of acting like an ass, maybe you could thank him!"

Elena opened the front door, motioning them to go out, too exasperated to care about hurting them. "I have to get ready. I'm meeting Caroline in fifteen minutes! I'll see you both later!"

As soon as she was alone, she went upstairs and changed. So many lies today and none of them made her feel guilty. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if she had unknowingly turned her emotions off again. But she felt such apprehension about her appointment that she knew she was still herself.

Taking her purse and her jacket, she checked to make sure they had left, and she exited her house. Putting her keys in the ignition, she suddenly felt nervous about meeting this old lady for the first time. She had only spoken to her through the phone, and if her voice matched the mental image Elena had created, she would be very patient and very refined. She had been the first on her list, and as soon as she had heard her voice, thick with a British accent, she knew she had found the one.

* * *

Feeling somebody behind her, Caroline loudly sighted and asked, "What Klaus?"

"Try again."

Recognizing the voice, Caroline turned to face Stefan and quickly apologized, "Sorry, my bad. Aren't you a little early? You know I love you, but I'm a little busy, so quick!"

"I was just looking for Elena, where is she?"

Caroline mentally cursed at his forgetfulness, "You know she's not here, I was the one who told you to arrive at 2 pm!"

Stefan looked dumbfounded for a second, then quickly put on a warm smile, "Yes, of course. I don't know why I got everything so mixed up. So, do you know where she is now?"

"No, sorry. Now, I have to get back to my crew before the ship sinks!"

"Ship?" asked Stefan with a little smile.

"Shoo! Leave me alone, find someone else to bug!"

Then Caroline ran to a table full of, _again_, the wrong flowers. A toddler could understand her flower chart, what the hell was wrong with her workers?

* * *

After her appointment, Elena had literally run home, took the fastest shower in girl's history and got ready to go meet up with Caroline. They had some last minute prepping to do with April.

On her way, she bumped into Stefan, too lost into her thoughts to realize he had purposefully come out of nowhere.

"Where were you?" asked an accusative Stefan.

Elena felt slightly annoyed at the question. She was not doing anything bad, but she just wanted to keep it for herself. She should have told Caroline that she was her cover.

"I was nowhere in particular. I just needed to take a walk and relax!"

"And you could not do it at home? Elena, you love your home, you always feel at peace there!"

"Not with Damon and you crowding me with endless questions!"

"Then why did you lie?"

"I just did not want you to worry. I do appreciate your concern, it's just that it's not exactly what I need right now."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how they could be interpreted, and she saw that Stefan too did.

"What do you need Elena?"

Elena could not deal with this at the moment, so she chose to flee, "Right now, I need to get to Caroline. We'll talk later Stefan.

* * *

"Red or blue?" asked April, nervously putting each dress in front of her.

"Blue." Answered both.

"Are you sure? Because I'm not!"

"Yes. Trust me, I won!"

"And she lost?" pointing to Elena.

"Yes."

"And what color were you both wearing?"

"I was in green and she was in blue, why?" answered Caroline.

When she saw April's already huge eyes just threaten to pop right out of her sockets, Elena tried to reassure her, "The color of the dress does not matter that much, it's you who matters. And you will win!"

"Elena's right! Now, go change!"

April took a deep breath and left with both dresses.

"Elena, I did not ask yesterday, but are you sure you're alright? I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but what exactly happened to you? You just seem so… so feral in a way. My friend instinct tells me you are still you, but my vampire instinct tells me you could kill me in a second if you wanted too!"

Elena's eyes started to tear up and her breath was becoming irregular. "You think I will kill you?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no! That is so not what I meant! Please don't cry, please! I just meant that I feel you are stronger than me, but like much much more stronger than me!"

"I'm sorry I killed those people, I really am! But Caroline, I would never do that to you!" added a horrified Elena.

Caroline felt bad for upsetting her friend. She should have been more tactful and should have thought of her words. Knowing Elena was a young vampire and probably would not get a hold on her emotions anytime soon, she wondered what to do. But without her having to add anything, Elena's sobs suddenly stopped, as she seemed to completely relax.

"I'm sorry I overreacted, I don't know what got into me."

"And I'm not sure how you did that…" Caroline remembered spending a whole day crying because she had broken a hairclip.

"Did what?" asked a confused Elena.

But a knock on the door prevented Caroline from further explanations. As she opened the door, she was surprised to see none other than Elijah standing behind it.

"Hello, Caroline," a light smile on the lips.

Caroline seemed dumbstruck for a couple of seconds, but answer with her chin high in the air, "Hello Elijah, how can I help you?"

"It is not me you can help. I believe my brother is looking for you. And you know how he gets when he has to wait."

"He's not gonna start killing people at my event, no?"

"It was a poor attempt at humor, Care. You'd think that after a thousand years he'd be better at it, but he lacks practice."

Caroline was surprised to hear a low chuckle from the Original. She was at a complete loss as of what was happening.

"I hoped I would find you here, Elena. There is much to discuss."

"No, there is not! You saw her only yesterday, and there has been no crisis since then. Whatever you have to say can wait! I need her." But she noticed that Elijah had stopped listening to her, as his eyes were now fixated on Elena. She gave him a slight nod and he excused himself, leaving the two of them to talk.

"What was that?"

"What was what? Caroline, today you're talking in riddles. You usually go straight to the point, but now, it's like you're having a private conversation in your head and only informing me of the conclusion!"

"Okay, I swear I won't ever ask about the people you killed, and about what you did when you, hum, went away, but what happened between you two?"

"I have no idea what you mean, but if you are implying what I think you are, I don't really have anything else to tell you. I'm with Stefan and you know that."

"You really have no idea, do you? If only you could see yourself! It's like… I don't know how to explain it! I did not think you had cheated on Stefan by the way. You are both like... a habit! I don't expect to see a change in your relationship anytime soon! But with Elijah, it's like… it's like you can both read each other's mind. You both gravitate around the other. I don't know how else to say it."

"You're kidding right? What, he's my sun?" asked a disbelieving Elena.

"Don't you see it? Just then, you were an emotional mess. And I think you felt him, somehow, and you just calmed down. And that tea and coffee thing! He chose coffee!"

"So what?"

"He prefers tea. He only chose coffee because you wanted him to!"

"This is nonsense. Stop looking for things that are not there." Answered an uncomfortable Elena. There really were no feelings. It was normal to develop some sort of companionship when you spend a week practically locked up with the same person.

"But there _is_ something. Something you know is important and something you are hiding from your best friend!"

Elena knew when a battle was lost, so she gave up, "I drank from him," she mumbled.

"OMG!"

Elena just laughed at that, a light dancing in her eyes as she remembered of the last time she had heard that same expression.

"Well, I'm not the only one having private conversations! You do know what blood sharing means right? Especially between two vampires?"

"Blood sharing? No, Stefan never told me anything about it."

"It's… I guess you could compare it to human intimacy." To which Elena only laughed, "Caroline, I think you've got this backward! I _attacked_ him."

"You attacked an Original? And you survived?"

"He smelled good, and my inhibitions were running low. Anyway, he stopped me. Can I please go now, inspector?"

And right then, April came back still looking as nervous as before, but with the red dress on.

"I'm sorry it took so long, I kept trying them both on."

Elena looked at her with a small smile, "Definitely the red, April. Gotta go, see you both later!"

Before Caroline could say anything, her friend was gone.

* * *

The man's body was covered in black ink. It started at his fingertips, weaving itself in a familiar pattern, but unlike Jeremy's tattoo, it did not stop at his wrist. It circled his arm, crawling all the way to his shoulder and finally stopping where his heart was, always moving and changing, as if animated by a life of its own. To some, it looked like a map. To others, it would look like a spell. To many, it just looked like skin, for eyes untainted by the supernatural could not see the black pattern, even when it was complete. However, no matter what others thought of the drawing, the Hunter knew what mattered. Witches would see the spell. However, those that came to him knew exactly what spell it was, and what it would bring him. They had cast it in exchange for a help he was already fated to give. There was no trust between them, only the knowledge that each had a part to accomplish, and each had enough motivation to carry on no matter the cost. Both could only see the prize at the end, though the Hunter had no idea what was the prize for those witches.

The spell had brought him strength, amazing strength. He was now much stronger than his prey. He had yet to test it, but he knew; it was in his nature to hunt, and as any good predator, he knew without a doubt when he was at a disadvantage. Now, the tide had turned, and the wind blew in his favor. However, even with the improvement of his other physical abilities, such as reflexes and speed, he would not have been enough with the sword. They had brought it with them, a parting gift to add to his growing debt. He could only repay them with the head of his prey. His sword hungered for it, and a name had carved itself in the steel overnight.

His long hair the color of ash was teasing his eyelashes while he tested the sword. Had it been another sword, he would have checked the edge. But this was no ordinary sword, and even a thousand years later, it was still as sharp as ever. Flexing his muscles, his started to exercise, knowing he would need it. Fighting with guns and vervain-laced bullets indeed required different abilities than fighting a one-on-one combat with a sword in hand.

However, none of that mattered, because his sword had named who she was thirsty for, and the Hunter would happily oblige.

The witches had also asked for another name, a human girl they found bothering. He was not a killer, but he would dispose of anything and anyone that was in his path, including an innocent girl. From his point of view, she was far from innocent if she consorted with vampires, and her death would not be a loss for anyone.

* * *

Bonnie had never planned to be there for the crowning, but she had news that could not wait to be delivered. She knew Caroline might lose it if she showed up in jeans, so shad had taken the time to steal a dress from her best friend's closet. She knew a lot of people would be there, and it might be difficult to get in touch with Elena. She would never trust the Salvatore with her new information, just Elena and Caroline.

Her other concern was her magic. It was still so weak she wasn't sure if she'd be of any help to anyone. She had become the bookworm of the team, while all of those she cared about were out fighting. When she had lashed out at Kol, she had remembered what it was like to be powerful. He might not have feared her, but had she been able to keep her magic a bit longer, he'd been licking her feet in fear.

She noticed all of the Miss Mystic Falls applicants arrive at the arm of their partners. Much to her surprise, seeing Jeremy accompanying April did not stir any unresolved feelings in her. She just looked at him and hoped she would make him happy. More so, she hoped he would make her happy, and not mourn one of his dead girlfriends. He deserved to be happy, with a human girlfriend who would grow old together with him.

She surveyed the area and saw Kol, looking extremely disturbed, talking to an equally disturbed Elijah. Caroline was on stage about to announce the victor, with Elena at her side holding a small cushion. _Well, that was easy._

"This year's Miss Mystic Falls is… April Young!"

The audience started clapping, while April needed a little reminder of what she was supposed to do. She was so amazed she wasn't moving at all.

Caroline quickly left the stage to give April some space. She found Klaus already waiting for her.

"You're late."

"No, I'm not."

"It's 3 pm, and I said 2 pm. You're late."

"I arrived precisely at 2 pm. You were busy. Instead of burdening you with my presence, I watched you from afar while you were ordering people around."

"Oh. Well, I wouldn't have to order them around if they did their jobs properly!" She saw a table with empty glasses and quickly put them of some waiter's tray. "Hey, why am I bussing your tables? I said no empty glasses!"

She was about to say something about Klaus' smirk, but she saw the musicians and snapped again, "Hey, will you guys pick up the tempo?" snapping her fingers, "This is a pageant, not a funeral!"

"Careful, love, wouldn't want to jinx us."

"What would they _do_ if I wasn't there?"

Klaus chose to answer wholeheartedly, "I really don't know, love."

If Caroline understood the underlying meaning of his answer, she carefully chose to ignore it, and let the silence stretch, until he broke it once again, "And how am I doing?"

"You're –" Caroline had wanted to lie, but in this very moment, she realized she did not want to lie to this man, "perfect. Just so beyond annoying I can't even look at you."

"Shall we?" as he held out his hand for her to take, leading her toward a small path.

She laughed a little at his speech, "Yes, we shall."

They walked in silence for a while, but Caroline was no good with silence, especially when she needed to vent out her emotions.

"Elena's mad at me because I pressed her into telling me what happened in New York, and then she got even madder about my reaction when I told her! I mean, how did I become the bad guy?"

"Let's get you a drink, I'll tell you all about being the bad guy."

Though Caroline knew that not a word he'd just said was false, and that should be just one of the reason to make her run away, she found she could not. Actually, she found he was just more irresistible. He took a bottle of Champaign as well as two glasses from a waiter, and led her toward a small bench.

"It's just, as her best friend, it is my duty to know everything about her life, even if she doesn't want to, right? Oh, never mind, you don't have friends."

"So being a vampire has changed her?" asked Klaus with a knowing smile.

"But being a vampire only amplifies who you already are. Doesn't turn you into a completely different person."

"It's very peculiar." Klaus loved to see Caroline getting so worked up over something so obviously… obvious.

"What's that look for?"

"It will all make sense eventually." wishing she would stop talking about his brother and Elena.

"Whatever, just hurry up and find out who those witches are."

"I'm working on it," as he poured the golden drink into both glasses and handed her hers.

Unknown to them was a dark figure, looking at them from afar, murder in the eyes. He had come back to apologize to her, to tell her that the werewolf meant nothing, and he had found her in his arms already. How dare she?

"Life used to be a lot easier. Don't you miss the days of being, –" he took out a folded paper of his jacket and started reading "Chair of the Mystic Falls Beautification committee, and the director of the Policemen yearly raffle?"

Her breath hitched when she realized where that was coming from, and she stood up, trying to get the paper back from him, "Is that my Mystic Falls application? Where did you get that?"

But Klaus continued on, not minding her the sightless, "When I am chosen, I intend to redefine excellence. Now, I'm really enjoying your use of "when", here. It's very confident. And above all, I promise to aspire, inspire and perspire. Obviously, we found a shortage of words ending in spire."

"Yeah, it's very funny. It's hilarious. Just…" and she got her fighting spirit back, trying to get the application once more.

He just held it too far from her, looking at her with his blue eyes and smiling this adorable smile. It was too much, she just laughed and chose to sit back on the bench. She finally admitted to herself there was nothing she could do, and decided that if she were to be so helpless against him, she might as well as enjoy herself.


	11. Breaking Point

**Always and Forever**

_**Here goes my favorite chapter… I really hope you enjoy, cause I certainly enjoyed writing (and re-writing) it! **_

_**Again, thank you all for favoriting, following and reviewing this story, it means the world to me :)**_

_**Another OUaT reference for those who pay attention!**_

_**Finally, please watch Red Widow, it has absolutely nothing supernatural in it, but it's amazing, it stars Goran Višnjić, whose marvelous talent makes me swoon, and I think the ratings are bad and I don't want it to get cancelled! **_

_You can take everything I have__  
You can break everything I am  
Like I'm made of glass  
Like I'm made of paper  
Go on and try to tear me down  
I will be rising from the ground  
Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper_

_Skyscraper – Demi Lovato_

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

"I saw Mother."

"Were you drunk again, Kol?"

"No, Elijah, I wasn't. Not that much, anyway. Mother wishes me to pass her most sincere apology. She seemed to finally understand that killing your own children isn't exactly right. I wonder what gave it away?" said a bitter Kol.

"I thought being cryptic was Klaus' thing, not yours."

"Looked in the mirror lately? It's a family thing brother."

"What did Mother want?"

"Nothing to do with us. She wanted to talk to the witch. It seems we are not just up against the Brotherhood. A coven is responsible for them."

"I don't understand… those are hardly news. I expected witches to be involved in all of this."

"Not just witches. An expression coven. It angers the spirits, which is why they've restored the Bennett witch's powers. But then she lost them. Again."

Elijah pinched his nose between his fingers, closing his eyes in a vain attempt to escape the world. He had spent the better part of a thousand years looking after his brother's debauchery and then after a way to kill that same brother for the death of his other siblings. He had loved a woman whose blood had been used to make him what he was, then loved another woman wearing the same face, only to be betrayed. He had looked for revenge against so many, for so long, he was just tired.

He thought they had finally found some peace, all reunited once again, but his mother had disagreed. With her gone, he'd had the foolish hope that everything would be fine. For one so old, it was admirable that hope could still find a way to his heart. But hearing his brother's words, Elijah seemed to finally understand some ultimate truth; he would never be happy, because monsters did not deserve their happy ending. Salvation was out of reach for creatures like him.

"She said to thank you for taking care of us when she wouldn't," said Kol, breaking the depressing spiral Elijah had fallen into.

Elijah was the older brother, he would always protect them. Maybe he did not deserve happiness, but they did. He dared not think what he would do if someone ever told him that Rebekah did not deserve happiness. After a millennium of betrayals, she too still had hope. She hoped for love, the kind that burns you to ashes, only to be reborn a better person.

Kol deserved to find a reason to hope. As much as he enjoyed himself right now, he deserved to find somebody who would tear down his armor, who would strip him of all his defenses and leave him to bathe in the purity of his feelings. He needed to find someone he'd give his heart to, with no guarantee to ever receive something in exchange.

Klaus deserved time to resolve his trust issues, to understand that his family loved him unconditionally, and that he did not need the love created by a sire bond to feel wanted. Elijah would make it his mission to ensure that his brother never felt alone again, even for a single day.

Elijah would be whatever his siblings needed, always and forever.

"Well, somebody did need to take care of children such as you," smiled Elijah.

That is the moment Damon chose to interrupt, "Not that I want to end this bonding moment you guys seem to have going on, but what the hell did you do to Elena?"

Elijah suddenly stiffened, already expecting the worse. He immediately looked for her, and much to his surprise, he knew exactly where she was. As soon as his eyes fell upon her smiling face, he concentrated on what she was saying, her voice soothing him back to normal. She was congratulating the April girl and seemed so relaxed he could not understand what had triggered Damon's question.

A little bit like a sixth sense, Elena knew somebody was looking at her. While still listening to what April was telling her, she turned her head toward Elijah and saw his look. Even from this far away, she knew he was worried, and she may not know the reason,but she tried to comfort him the only way she could, and she smiled at him, trying to reassure him as if distance did not matter.

Damon was too mad to notice the fact that Elijah had not hesitated for a second when he had looked for Elena, as if they were magnets, but Stefan had noticed. Stefan had also noticed how Elena had reacted to such attention, which only brought him closer to Damon's mental state.

"Elijah, stop pretending, I know what you did," said Stefan, hoping the man would actually reveal something and not call his bluff. As far as he knew, Elijah had done nothing. But Elena was different since coming back from New York, and there had to be a reason for that. Damon mostly blamed Elijah, and Stefan blamed the fact that Elena was a vampire. None of them had thought that maybe Elena was just changing.

"And what exactly are you accusing me of?" Elijah knew the brothers were merely fishing for information and he wasn't about to just hand them everything on a silver platter. However, in this particular situation, he did feel confused, while Kol jumped at the occasion of putting his brother in trouble as well as angering the Salvatores.

"Brother, I think they are referring to the fact that you let Elena drink from you."

Elijah knew he shouldn't have trusted his brother with this piece of information. He had wanted to tell someone and both Rebekah and Klaus had been out of question. Of course, two hundred years away from his brother had affected a bit his memory, because no one in his right mind would actually tell Kol something and expect him to keep it to himself.

Immediately, Damon looked even madder, if such a thing was possible, but Stefan only felt betrayed. While the first was ready for a confrontation with the Original, the second wanted a confrontation with the one who had bitten him.

Stefan quickly walked all the way over to Elena. When April saw the look in his eyes, she knew her presence was definitely not needed and left.

"Were you ever planning on telling me you drank from Elijah?"

Elena groaned and knew she'd been busted. "I'm sorry Stefan, I was just so ashamed! I wasn't myself back then and I was just trying to forget everything that had happened!"

But Stefan couldn't just get over the fact the she had just lied to him. "I don't understand Elena! Why are you ashamed of yourself when you're with me?"

"Just look at your reaction… You should understand why I didn't tell you! I didn't want you to judge me just because I lost control and attacked a friend! And I thought you of all people would understand! You hurt me when you had no emotions, just like I hurt Elijah!"

Right then Stefan understood that she did not know what she had done, but was still confused as to why Elijah had not told her the truth. "Hurt? Elena, blood sharing between vampires is the equivalent to human intimacy! Didn't your Original tell you?"

"Oh!" Shock registered on Elena's face. Elijah had indeed forgotten to enlighten her about that particular fact.

"I'll take that as a no, right, Elena? It's just…" he seemed at a loss of words, "you come back and you're different, and you won't talk to me. Or you talk, but you just lie! When did lying to me became so easy for you, Elena?"

"When did it indeed…"

The hurt on his face was more than Elena could endure, but as if she had somehow been gifted with foresight, she knew where this conversation would end. And he did too.

"Elena, don't. Please."

"You know, Caroline said something earlier about us being a habit. And I know she meant it in a good way. But it made me realize…" Elena paused, trying to soften the blow she was about to deliver, but failing to do so, "I am with you out of habit, not out of feelings."

It had sounded bad in her head, but as she voiced it, she saw that it was even worse. She tried to pick up the pieces, "With everything that has happened in the last few years, you were my rock. But at some point, I started to stand up for myself, and move forward."

"And you moved on without me. How poetic of you, Elena." Stefan was mad and couldn't believe she was doig this to him. After everything they'd been through together, he thought they had finally reached some sort of happy place. He had known there were some unresolved feelings between her and Damon, but he just assumed they would move past it. "Is it because of him?"

"Who's him?" as she frowned.

"Elijah." Just his name was enough to constitute as a whole sentence. There was such history behind that name that the air suddenly became heavy.

"No Stefan, it's not because of Elijah. Though he did make me realize something, even if it was not his intention. Do you remember when he found me after I had run away because I panicked because of the transition?"

Stefan wasn't sure where this was going, but if it could delay what was coming, he'd gladly humor her, "Yes, why?"

"He asked me what I want. I kept telling him what all of you wanted, but he just asked me what _I_ wanted. I think it's right at that moment that something clicked in me, because I remember asking myself, "When was the last time somebody asked you what you wanted?" Stefan, we are together just _because_. I don't have any reason not to be with you, but I don't have a reason to be with you either. I need a reason." She paused and tried to be tactful, "I love you Stefan, I think I always will."

"What are you saying, Elena?" it might break what was left of his heart, but he just needed to hear her say it.

"Somebody once told me I wanted a love that consumes me. Turns out he was right. I don't want to settle, I want to burn. I may love you Stefan, but I am not in love with you."

"It's just the transition, Elena. Please, give us a chance!" begging her.

Hearing that from him angered her a little and it was clear with her answer, "Stefan, you know just as well as me that being a vampire only magnifies what you are feeling! If I truly loved you, becoming a vampire would have magnified my feelings for you! And yet, nothing happened! Don't tell me you never wondered about it!"

"Elena…"

"Would you prefer if I stayed with you out of pity, Stefan? You know I don't love you the way you love me anymore, and yet you don't want to let me go? Then, allow me to let you go."

"Where does that leave us?"

"Do you really need me to say it, Stefan?" in pained her to have to say it, but she would, "I… we're over." There. Three little words. It was kind of ironic to think that only three words were needed to start a relationship and only three could end one as well.

* * *

The hunter had a beautiful scabbard on his hips, hiding from others the sight of the terrible sword he would soon wield. From what he had seen, his two targets were here today, which would only make his job easier. The first one was currently busy talking to the vampire named Damon Salvatore, but the second one was an easy target.

He anticipated his fight with the Original and knew the element of surprise was his best ally. Going at him while he wasn't alone was not in his interest. However, he would need to kill the witch in a secluded area, because if he alerted anybody to his presence, he'd fail his mission. And failure was not an option.

He had been trained by masters in the arts of stealth and knew how to stay unnoticed until the moment he wished his presence to be known. His prey would not escape. None of his prey would.

* * *

Bonnie had listened to Stefan's accusations from afar, not willing to interrupt the broken couple. Though ultimately, Stefan was the one more hurt with their ending, she couldn't help but blame him, if only a little, because he was making this so difficult for her. It would have been easier for both of them had he just accepted what he knew was coming.

It was admirable that he didn't want to let go, but that didn't mean he had to ask Elena for a killing blow. He had literally handed her his heart so that she would step on it and crush it. Surely he knew it was breaking her when she was hurting him, even if it was for the best. She hoped with time he'd see that he was better off single rather than in a relationship where he wasn't loved.

When Stefan left, just looking at him pained her. His eyes were hollow, the life sucked out of him. He was a walking corpse. It was a bit of an overreaction in Bonnie's opinion. He was taking the news the same way a teenager would, thinking the end of a relationship meant the end of the world. Maybe it had something to do with being a vampire. Heightened emotions and all. Loving to the brink of destruction.

The moment she saw him leave, she hesitated about delivering her news. Maybe her friend didn't need this right now. Maybe she needed a little time to ponder… well everything. So much was happening, adding fuel to the raging fire that was their lives may not be the best idea.

At the same time, she knew she'd have to tell her friend at one point or another, and chances were that Elena would be mad that she hadn't spilled earlier, giving her a speech about how hiding the truth was the same thing as lying. Bonnie wasn't a liar, she was a protector. She had failed to protect her friend in life, but in death, she would. And that meant telling her.

When she saw him talking to Damon across the park, she knew she was making the right decision and she finally stepped forward. It's not like what she had to say would change their lives in a permanent way, just that they would need to include him in their plan from now on.

"Elena, we need to talk."

Elena may be a vampire, but she could still be startled, especially when she was lost in thoughts over a bad breakup. _Breakup_. The word resonated in her mind, bouncing around in the confines of her skull. She had ended things with Stefan. Right after she had finally made her choice between him and his brother. What would everyone think? She realized she didn't care. She may not be happy at the moment, but she was content with her decision. It felt right.

Even if she had still been in love with him, knowing herself, she knew they were heading there anyway. As she had told Elijah, she could only be selfless if she let them both go, because tearing the two brothers apart was a selfish thing to do. Yet, in a strange way, she was glad she had broken up with Stefan because she didn't love him anymore, because that meant she had done it for herself. She'd have been miserable for so long if she'd only left him in order to save his relationship with his brother.

Lately, with Stefan, she had felt trapped, like a caged bird. She would not tell him that, but the moment she made her decision, she had felt the lock open, and she was free. She was sad, but mostly, she was high, so she was ready to accept whatever news Bonnie would bring. Judging from her frown, nothing good.

"I know you've just broken up with Stefan, I kinda overheard…"

"I believe you mean eavesdropped…" smiled Elena, trying to lighten up the situation.

And then, many things happened simultaneously. The Hunter, who had been planning to wait, lost it when he saw his target being so friendly with the vampire bitch. He unsheathed his sword in one swift move and raised it high in the air, ready to claim her heart.

On the other side of the park, Kol, bored with Damon's ranting, had let his eyes wander. That's when he saw the sword, aimed at the witch's beating heart. If he had known his bodyguard job would be that much trouble when he had heard Klaus request, he'd have refused. But he had thought his job would consist of mostly nothing, giving him plenty enough of free time to make up for two hundred years of lost sex. But this one had a knack for getting herself in trouble. And she was just so stubborn that she never told him where she was going, trying to escape him. He had come here thinking she'd stay at home, and had ordered one of the hybrids to look after her. He briefly wondered what had happened to said hybrid, but there wasn't much time left.

He used his vampire speed to get to Bonnie's side, hoping to push her out of the way. Unfortunately, even he wasn't quick enough, and the sword was about to pierce her heart. The sword wouldn't hurt him, he was a vampire. Moreover, he was an Original, so even a stake wouldn't kill him. Or so he foolishly thought when he impulsively put himself between the sword and Bonnie.

Still ranting, Damon never noticed that Elijah's eyes had left him to look at whatever had caught his brother's attention and had made him lose any notion of subtlety. He almost expected it to be another beautiful woman with a low cut dress, but his already dead heart stopped when he saw the sword.

Klaus and he had made a mistake when they had kept their knowledge of the swords' powers hidden. That was blatantly evident, as he saw his brother put himself in the path of the sword. His desperate cry died in his throat as the Hunter impaled his brother on three feet of steel.

At first, the Hunter was enraged that someone had dared to keep his sword from taking the life of its intended target. But then his ears were filled with his sword's chant and he couldn't help but laugh. Of all the vampires that could have put themselves in front of the witch, only one could have died from the wound. And that one was currently staring at him with his sword through his heart. A sword that had named him. A sword that had craved for his blood. A sword that had accomplished his purpose.

He grinned like a child at the soon-to-be dead Original, knowing that even if he had lost his chance to kill the witch, it was worth it. There were only three of them left, now. The others would carry on the mission.

Maybe, if he was lucky, another sword would choose him and he's get the opportunity to kill another. Hopefully, it'd be the blonde one. His grin quickly faded when he saw what he thought was a corpse grip the weapon with both his hands and use it as a hold to bring him closer to the Hunter. Still thinking he was invincible, Kol smiled as his hand shot forward and gripped the bloodthirsty killer's heart. At the same time he yanked it out, he saw his name engraved in the sword, just below the hilt. _How strange_, he thought.

His legs lost whatever strength was left in them, and his knees hit the ground. Immediately, Elijah was at his side, his eyes conveying a pain no words could describe. He retrieved the sword, looking for a name he knew would be there but still hoped wouldn't.

He kneeled next to his brother, taking him into his arms. Mikaelsons never hugged, yet Elijah held on to his brother as if he could keep him alive with sheer force of will. And yet his brother was dying.

Slowly, starting from his heart, Kol's veins started to blacken, creeping up to his neck. He seemed to understand his death was coming and thought how ironic it was that he had unknowingly given his life to save the witch's.

Klaus was laughing at something Caroline had said when he felt a sudden pain in his chest, as if his heart was being torn apart. He gripped his chest in anguish and tried to understand what was happening. Fear took him, and he just knew.

"What have you done? Was that yet another one of your schemes?" he spat.

Caroline had never seen Klaus lose it like that, even though it wasn't the first time he accused her of something of the sort. "Klaus, I swear, I have no idea what you're talking about!"

But he just gripped her shoulders and shook her hard, like a ragged doll, "Don't lie to me, Caroline! I trusted you, and now my brother is dead! Only Damon had a white oak stake, so don't pretend you didn't know what was going on!" he shouted.

"Enough!" she answered, screaming just as loudly as he was, "I understand you are a distrustful crazy old idiot, but I didn't do anything. Now, you're hurting me, so let me go and we'll go see what happened!"

Klaus looked at his hands as if they didn't belong to him, the foreign fingers pressed so hard into her skin bones would break soon.

They arrived to the scene shortly after, where most people had gathered around Elena, Bonnie, Elijah, Damon and Stefan, who were already surrounding a dying Kol. Klaus saw the sword lying on the ground, next to the Hunter's body, and he only felt a despair he saw mirrored in Elijah's eyes.

When Death finally claimed his brother, all hell broke loose. Every single person was silent, either from grief or shock, until a desperate cry pierced the air, coming from none other than Bonnie. She pushed Elena aside as well as Elijah and dropped to the ground, tearing Kol's shirt apart to look at the wound.

She looked like a mad woman, as she was muttering to herself and hitting Kol. Elijah tried to pry her away, "Bonnie, I am truly sorry for your loss, I wasn't aware of the depth of the feelings you harbored for my brother. But you need to stop, now. As much as it pains me to admit, my brother has left this world."

Bonnie shot an accusatory glance toward Elijah, moving it to Damon and Stefan right after, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "You don't understand, none of you do! Why is it that you never asked! If you'd had, this wouldn't be happening! This is all your fault! All of you!"

Damon, always the considerate one asked what was on everyone's mind, but without the tact Stefan would have had, "Look, Judgey, he's an Original, since when do you care about their fate? Weren't you their mother's pet not so long ago?"

Damon's intervention just broke the last shred of sanity in Bonnie's mind, and as anger overtook her, something exploded in her. She felt as if whatever restraints that had been placed upon her had snapped. She sensed a surge of magic coming through her and fashioned it as a blow she gave Damon, making him fly across the field, crashing several meters further.

"He sired her line!" She may not have pointed to Elena, yet no one misunderstood who was _her_. "When I got my magic back, I tracked the blood Dr. Fell used, just like you should have done yourselves!" her voice breaking at the last words.

The implications of such a relation dawned upon them and their gazes turned to Elena in fear.

"Well, I was always meant to die anyway. I escaped it long enough…" but she didn't really mean it. She wasn't ready to die. She might have thought she was, but now that she was about to, she realized that she wanted to live.

As much pain as Stefan and Damon were right now, it was nothing compared to what Elijah's, who had just lost a brother and was about to lose the life of a dear friend.

"Elena, I beg of you, please don't say something like that. Bonnie, is there a way to sever the connection of the blood line?"

Klaus and Caroline joined them, and Elijah felt closer to his brother than he had ever felt, knowing they were the last remaining brothers of the family. He drew energy from him, trying to find the strength to be the big brother Klaus needed right now. Never before had Klaus looked so broken, even when Finn had died. He was much closer to his little brother, who happened to be just as mischievous as he was.

"They will pay. Even if I have to end this world for that to happen, those witches will pay with their life. They will pay with their pain!" raged Klaus.

"Okay, guys, I know now may not be the best time to say this, but somebody has to… We need to compel the whole town, because I don't think we can find a good enough reason to explain all of this."

When nobody moved, Caroline hated herself for pressing the issue, but knew it had to be one, "Klaus, just call your hybrids, they can do it. We need to move the corp – your brother's body."

Klaus absently nodded and gestured for his hybrids to do as she had just said. When he and Elijah both took a step forward to take care of their brother, Bonnie knocked them away and when they tried to come closer, they were stopped by a magic barrier. "Bonnie, what are you doing? Let us pass!" ordered Elijah.

But Bonnie was past listening, and she just concentrated on the power that flowed inside her. She put her hands on Kol's bloodied chest and started chanting. It was an old spell, one she had come across in Anyelle's book. It was a powerful spell ad she wasn't sure she could survive it, but she had to try.

She was glad she had memorized it on a whim, while hoping she would never have to use it. This magic was pure, not like the dark energy she had used to bring Jeremy back from the dead, or save Klaus from death. This magic was life itself, but as witch knew, magic always comes with a price, and the more powerful the magic, the higher the price.

As she kept chanting, she felt the dam starting to repair itself and knew the expression witches, no matter where they were hiding, were trying to muzzle her again. She couldn't really afford to divert any of her energy, but her anger was giving her abyssal powers. She locked on the signature of the spell that was weaving itself around her, and followed it back to its origin, to a circle of witches holding hands, eyes closed.

As if they felt her ethereal presence, they all opened their eyes at once, revealing black irises with not a trace of white left. They looked alarmed at her power. Bonnie didn't wait for them to recover from their surprise and blew all the candles, as well as knocking half of them out while the other half was left powerless from the sudden break in the connection. Knowing it would take them a while to recover, Bonnie reintegrated her body and continued the spell.

The spell was taking its toll on her body, as blood started to run down her nose. That was only the beginning, because soon, she was also spewing blood.

Seeing that, Elena tried to move forward, begging her fried to stop, "Bonnie, what's happening to you? Bonnie, let me in, please! It's okay, I accepted my fate long ago, don't fight it, please!" She was hitting the barrier with her fists, slowly sinking to the ground as life was leaving her friend. "I can't live knowing your life was the price Bonnie!"

Though he was besieged with is own sorrow, Elijah couldn't help but feel Elena's as well. He took the sobbing mess she was in his arms, soothing her by holding her close, just like he had when she was having hallucinations. Rocking her back and forth, he was murmuring to her, "Try to understand her anguish, lovely Elena. You have always been ready to sacrifice yourself for your friends' lives. Does it surprise you that much that they are ready to the same for yours?"

"You just want her to save your brother! You don't care about her!"

"Can you really blame me for that?" he quietly asked.

_No_. She didn't say it aloud, but he understood it anyway, and just held her tighter to his body.

Bonnie had known the moment she had started that her death would be the price, but she now doubted that she would be able to complete her spell before that happened. Her skin was breaking; wounds were opening on every inch of her body. Still, she kept chanting, her voice never wavering the slightest. When she heard – and felt – her bones snap, she knew the end was near and she was nowhere close to succeeding.

Elijah's hope was getting dimmer and dimmer with every new injury Bonnie suffered. He suddenly felt a presence appear close to him. When he looked up, he saw Esther, tear in her eyes, looking at Bonnie. The smile that was plastered on her face sickened Elijah and he lashed out, "Is that what you wanted, Mother? The death of another of your children? At least he left this world thinking you loved him, not aware of your betrayal!"

Unfazed by her elder son's words, she asked him in a kind tone, "Do you know what she is doing? Even I am amazed by it. She sure has some gut."

When she was rewarded by disgust, she continued, "She learned from her mistakes. She knows she cannot simply bring him back from the dead like she did with the Gilbert boy. So she's binding his life to hers. It's similar to what I did to Alaric when I bound him to the doppelgänger. But what she is doing is much more complicated, much more demanding. With my binding, when one died, so did the other. She is trying to impose her will upon the bond, making her life force sufficient for the both of them. She truly is a selfless girl, sharing her soul like that."

At that, Elena's sobs quieted down a little enough that she asked, "Then why is she dying?"

"My son may technically have died a millennium ago, but he walked this earth for more than twenty lifetimes. He sired many vampires, who also sired others. There is no way a human, even if the human is a Bennett witch, can withstand the toll the spell asks for so many lives. But she is strong; she almost bent nature to her will."

"So she will die?" spasms shaking her whole body.

"Not yet. Look, Elena. Family above all else. Always and forever."

So she looked. A flash of white light blinded her and while her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, she thought she could see a hazy shadow near her friend. The sight of Bonnie broke her heart. The witch had practically collapsed on the Kol's body, she was covered in blood, and yet, though no human could have heard it, her vampire hearing picked a whisper from her cracked lips. She was still trying to sustain his life with hers, and she probably knew that she couldn't, but she wouldn't give up.

The shadow seemed to solidify and she recognized Bonnie's grandmother. Then, more shadows appeared, some she recognized from old pictures, then some that she recognized from paintings because they were from a time where photography did not exist. More and more kept appearing; mothers, daughters, sisters, the complete Bennett line, all the way to – "Ayana," whispered Elijah, recognizing his mother's old friend. She turned her head toward him and smiled at him, sending him some warmth in waves.

They all circled around Kol and Bonnie, who had not even noticed their arrival. Taking each other's hands, they started chanting the same complex spell Bonnie was, but their voices were stronger, more powerful. They carried such power she could feel it in her soul.

Elena felt the barrier disappear through her fingers, and she wavered over leaving or not Elijah's arms to help Bonnie. In the end, his embrace may feel good, but she knew Bonnie needed a friend even more. She attempted to move, but Elijah just held her tighter, whispering in her ear, "Wait. Don't you see?"

"Yes, I can see she's dying Elijah!"

"No. Family above all else. Always and forever. The whole Bennett family, since Ayana herself, decided to save your friend. She may not have been enough to sustain twenty lifetimes, but with them, she is enough to sustain thousands of years."

"They are not only saving her, they are making her stronger," marvelled Elena.

"Yes. Now dry those tears, miss Gilbert, and watch the power of family," said Elijah, still whispering in her ear.

And so they watched as Bonnie's body started to heal, the wounds closing and the bones righting themselves. When the bleeding finally stopped, Bonnie regained some awareness and straightened up. She felt the power pulsing through her body and tears of joy escaped her eyes. She could feel the magic finally working, as her life force was now more than enough to bring Kol back.

Abruptly, she found herself pulled by Kol's blood and saw ties that spread all over the world, leading to all his descendants. She felt appalled at the sight, as it dawned upon her what it was she'd been trying to do.

"Everything will be alright, sweet grandchild of mine," said her grams.

As the incantation came to an end, she felt something akin to a ribbon wrap itself around Kol and her, binding them forever, for as long as they'd lived, both of them would feed off from the other's life.

Just as Kol's eyes shot opened and he drew a laborious breath, Bonnie felt the exhaustion from her spell and finally collapsed on Kol's awakening body.

_**Sorry if you got bored because of the lenght, I didn't expect it to be so long... I just kinda lost it :)**_


	12. Kicking Ass

**Always and Forever**

_**Apparently you liked the long chapter, and this one is pretty long too, but again, it's not on purpose XD Thanks for thereviews, it is so appreciated, you really are amazing :)**_

_**To all of those who asked questions, I'm still hesiatating between answering and giving spoilers or giving you a surprise...**_

_**I hate describing sitting positions. It always seems confused. **_

_**I made Tyler a jerk. It's nothing personal; he needs to be for what has to happen!**_

_**I'm a lefty, and therefore so is Elijah.**_

_**LMotD**_

_Let me be your hero_

_Would you dance  
If I asked you to dance?  
Would you run  
And never look back?  
Would you cry  
If you saw me crying?  
Would you save my world tonight?_

_Would you tremble  
If I touched your lips?  
Would you laugh?  
Oh please tell me this!  
Now would you die  
For the one you love?_

_Hold me in your arms tonight._

_Hero – Enrique Iglesias_

Chapter Twelve

The Mikaelsons mansion was just as huge inside as it looked on the outside. It screamed opulence to all onlookers, yet, Elena was no mere onlooker. She hadn't explored much, there were only two rooms that held her interest at the moment. The first was the room where she'd been waiting for the last four days that Bonnie would wake up and get out of the second room she knew where to find.

After the events that had taken place at the pageant, they had to take an unconscious Bonnie back home. However, no Originals had been invited into her house, and they couldn't exactly ask Bonnie to do so, because, well, she was unconscious.

Elena's house had seemed appropriate to all, until, right after Elena had passed the threshold of the family property with her best friend in her arms, dropping her on the couch, Jeremy had thrown a jealousy tantrum and refused to let anyone in the house, claiming that only he could protect Bonnie. And Bonnie's protection was indeed the issue. After she had so courageously saved Kol's life by endangering her own, the Mikaelsons brothers had all became very protective of her.

Klaus had threatened Jeremy with all sorts of torments if he didn't let him in to see Bonnie, gripping the doorframe so hard it broke into shards. Elijah, always the diplomatic one, had actually thrown diplomacy by the window as he vampire sped to Jeremy and looked at him straight in the eye, so closely that the boy was the only one who could see. Elijah's eyes had darkened until there was no trace of white left; only black with a red hue. The veins beneath his eyes were huge, going all the way down his chin. When he growled at Jeremy, the boy could see his fangs protruding and knew this was no joke. Jeremy decided that backing down was probably the best idea, and as he did so, his erratic beating heart betrayed his fear.

Kol and Klaus had smirked, knowing what Elijah had done, but mostly knowing how truly frightening he could be when he put his mind to it. He carried the big brother aura, and even Klaus obeyed him when the order didn't concern the whole hybrid thing. Elena, on the other hand, only suspected what had transpired, and though she felt the need to defend her brother, she couldn't help but feel jealous that her brother had seen Elijah's vampire features. It was something that had always fascinated her, because he always stayed so calm, never losing control over himself.

Elijah had just taken Bonnie in his arms and brought her back to the mansion, when Elena had tucked her into the bed he had showed her.

For the last four days, Elena had been so worried that she hadn't left the mansion even for an hour, for fear she would miss Bonnie's awakening. At first, she had just stayed at her bedside's friend and watched over her like a hawk. When it became clear Bonnie wouldn't wake up anytime soon, Elijah had showed her the library and she had yet to move from there. She felt like Belle, when the Beast showed her his magnificent library. Except Elijah was no beast, far from it.

The room was in a Victorian style, and while Elena would find it tacky in her own house, somehow, it fitted here. She had sat for hours just looking at all the books and wondering which one she would pick. Of course, they were placed in alphabetical order by the author's name, which should have simplified her choice, yet only made it harder. There were books so old she just knew they were the first edition ever published, and others were in foreign languages, so at least she could eliminate those.

Elijah had watched her fondly from the couch where he was currently adding notes about history to the manuscript of a friend. However, at one point, when he realized he hadn't put any notes in a while because he was too busy watching Elena, he had snapped. He had moved to the library, picked a book he was sure she did not know but knew she would appreciate nonetheless and had dropped it to her feet, before going back to sit on the couch as if nothing had happened.

Once Elena was comfortably sitting in the couch, Elijah had been able to go back to his notes. Elena had started reading and, quite similarly to Elijah, she noticed she was so focused on him and the distance separating them that she'd been reading the same sentence for the last few minutes. The moment she had realized what exactly was keeping her from knowing the rest of the story was her end. She now had a sixth sense allowing her to precisely measure the distance between the Original and her. She knew when he'd move before he did, and just by looking at the slight frown that sometimes creased his forehead, she knew when he would add a note. To put it simply, the first day she had sat with Elijah to read had been quite the counterproductive day.

The second day had been better and the third had been full of mystery, with Elena leaving to meet the old British lady. She hadn't told anybody about her and would like to keep it that way, at least until things calmed down. She knew everybody would say that her timing was atrocious, but she was doing this for herself, so there was no stopping. And even if she had seen the lady just before the pageant, she knew that it would help her calm down. If her sudden departure had intrigued Elijah, he hadn't said a word. He had watched her go with nothing more than a small wave and a mumbled goodbye, and had watched her come back with something that looked so much like a knowing smile that Elena almost thought he knew. But that was impossible, she was so careful, she thought that she had just misread his expression.

Now, on the fourth day, here they were, Elena's legs draped across Elijah's. He had abandoned his stiff position for one just a little bit more relaxed, but still uptight. His back was resting on the couch and his legs were crossed on the coffee table in front of him. Elena's body was turned toward his as she sat at the opposite end, but her legs were stretched, passing across his, her feet hiding between the cushion and the armrest.

He used her knees as a small table to put the manuscript on while he took notes. At one point, she had playfully tried to bend her knees in a sudden move, hoping maybe he'd make a mistake, but just as she knew he was about to write a note before he did, he knew what she was planning and had simply put his right hand on her thigh in order to still her, while his left hand continued its cursive pattern. Elena half-wondered if the warmth she felt radiating from that right hand was her imagination, but quickly dismissed the idea.

Three hours later, Elijah's hand was still resting on her thigh, both of them pretending he was just keeping her from moving because he had notes to take. During these three hours, Elena had started ruminating about Bonnie's state. What if the spell had been too much for her? What if the witches were preventing her from waking up? What if they were attacking her mind right now and she was busy defending herself? What if she never woke up?

"The sound of your worries is deafening, would you kindly stop, lovely one? Your friend will be fine."

_Now he knows what I'm thinking… Great!_ "And how do you know that? How can you be so sure Elijah?" begged Elena, asking for reassurance.

He wasn't. But how could he possibly tell her that? "Listen to her heartbeat, it's strong. She is merely resting after performing such a tiring task. Worry not, I beg of you."

"Let me think about that… A coven of black witches that even the spirits are scared of are after us, a Hunter just tried to kill her, my brother is a Hunter and I'm not sure what that means, and Bonnie almost died trying to save my life. Yes, Elijah, it's completely illogical of me to worry!" _and I'm also worrying about that hand on my leg…_

"Indeed. You have a point. But I can address most of your worries. These witches are walking corpses. Soon they will be dead, don't doubt me. This Hunter is also dead and from what I understand, since Kol also died, he won't be haunted. About Bonnie, the word "almost" is crucial, because she is alive. But I'll allow you to worry about your brother."

"Why, thank you, my Lord Original. Is there anything else I'm permitted to do?" disbelieving the condescending tone he had just used with her.

You cannot beat in a verbal sparring someone who had a thousand years to practice. This Elena would learn with time, though clearly not today, "Yes, you can go back to reading that book. I'm surprised you haven't finished it yet, you've been reading it non-stop for the last few days."

While they were playfully arguing, they hadn't noticed the changes that were slowly taking place in Bonnie's room. Her heartbeat was getting stronger with every second passing, and her eyes were fighting to get opened.

But someone had noticed, and that someone wasn't even in the mansion at the moment. That someone was enjoying himself in a bar, busy drinking and admiring some red haired girl. But then he had felt the pull, and he hadn't even bothered to take his car, he had just ran straight back home and burst through her bedroom.

By the time he had arrived, Bonnie's eyes were fully opened, but all she felt was confusion. She didn't know where she was, or how she had arrived there. Her memory was a bit fuzzy, which didn't help her understand what was going on. Moreover, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so rested, as if she had slept for days, which she had, but that she didn't know. She felt power coursing through her veins, but a power much stronger than that she'd had before… before whatever that she couldn't remember had happened. She tried to leave the bed and put her unsteady legs on the floor.

"You're awake," said Kol, a bit dazed by the vision in front of him.

When she saw the door open with none other than Kol standing in the doorstep, she reacted purely on instinct. She may have been a little rusty, but she remembered how to give vampires headaches, and with all her new powers, she could give a pretty painful headache, even to an Original. She expected to feel satisfaction when she saw him take his head between his hands, a groan escaping his lips, but all she felt was a searing pain in her own head. Just as darkness was veiling her eyes, she remembered she had linked herself to him. _Fuck_.

The commotion broke whatever argument Elena and Elijah were having, and when they rushed upstairs, all they saw was an unconscious Bonnie and a whimpering Kol, both on the floor.

"What the hell did you do to her?" asked Elena, rushing to her friend's side.

"What I did? Why don't you ask that bloody stupid witch?" spat Kol.

"Because she is unconscious, brother. Now, what did you do?"

"Why do you _always_ assume I'm responsible for everything that goes wrong?"

"Because you usually are. Now, enough time wasted. What happened?"

"I… I kinda felt her waking up. So I thought I would come home to see if she was alright, and that idiotic witch greeted me with a headache! Ever felt like somebody was hammering down your brain? Because it felt exactly like this!"

"What do you mean you felt her?" asked Elijah, only to see Elena looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Elijah, I think your timing for intellectual curiosity couldn't be more wrong. Maybe the fact that she is unconscious and may have a concussion should be worrying you. But again, according you, nothing should worry us, now should it? And Kol, stop insulting my best friend. I'd have been pretty confused too, waking up with the craziest Original brother in my room."

"Crazier than Klaus? You wound me, doppelgänger." Clearly the pain was fading quickly if he could find the strength to be mischievous again.

"Kol, when she wakes up, you will apologize for startling her and then you will thank her for saving your life. Do you understand me?"

"And why would I do that? She's responsible for her state! With all the effort she put in that spell, you could expect her to remember she linked us! As for the saving my life part, the way I see it, I saved her life, and she saved mine. I'd say we're even."

"Kol," said a stern Elijah.

"Elijah," answered his brother, mimicking him.

"When you die and then get miraculously brought back to life, you thank those responsible for it."

Kol saw an escape in that phrasing, and quickly agreed, "Why, brother, I believe you are right." Just as he turned toward Elena, they all heard a moan coming from Bonnie as she slowly came back to the land of the living.

She blinked a couple of times and when she completely regained her senses, she looked at Elena and let out a small laugh, "I guess that wasn't my smartest move." And then to Kol, "Sorry about that." She paused, "I think."

To say Kol was shocked by her apology was the understatement of the century, but that wouldn't keep him from going forward with his plan to piss off Elijah, "And I thank you, Bennett witch, from the bottom of my heart, for being such good friend with Elena that you felt the need to research her Original sire and then risk your life to save her. I was happy to be collateral damage in your little power outburst."

Kol turned his back to all of them and stopped by the doorstep, adding, "Happy Elijah?" and just left the mansion, again. Elijah only rolled his eyes at his brother's theatricals and apologized to Bonnie on his brother's behalf.

* * *

Not so far away from Mystic Falls, Tyler was pacing in the forest, unable to forget what he had seen at the pageant. Caroline and Klaus. Klaus and Caroline. She had seemed so carefree with him, and the more he tried to remember, the more he was coming close to admitting that Caroline had never looked so happy before. He wanted revenge against him, because when he had seen her with him, after everything he had done to ruin their lives, he simply couldn't believe it. Maybe he shouldn't have cheated on her, but what she was doing was beyond illogical, and in Tyler's mind, she was doing it just to spite him.

Klaus had taken everything away from him, starting with his life. But Tyler was far too gone, and he also blamed Klaus for his werewolf gene. Maybe nothing supernatural would have happened to him if Klaus had never started this whole Sun and the Moon curse. The Original had screwed their lives over, and he continued to do so. But Tyler would protect Caroline. They may not be together anymore, but Tyler still felt something for her. Or maybe he just didn't want her to be with Klaus. Another thing Klaus would have taken away from him.

At first, Tyler's plan had been simple: unsire the hybrids to put them under his leadership. Together, they would be strong enough to resist Klaus' madness. But then the witches had come to him, and they had shared their knowledge with him. They had pledged themselves under his reign, and Tyler liked that. He liked that Servants of Nature wanted to serve him. They had told him he could kill Klaus, and he had absorbed their words like a sponge.

Once Klaus was gone, Tyler believed Caroline would regain her senses and maybe come back with him. Tyler was sure if he explained what he and Hayley shared, she'd understand. His wolf side needed Hayley, but that didn't mean he didn't need Caroline. In his delusion, he had convinced himself that he could keep both. Hayley would probably agree, but Caroline valued herself far more than that. She would never accept such a degrading position.

Tyler wasn't completely stupid and knew he couldn't do it by himself; he would teach all of the others how to free themselves from the sire bond. However, even with all fourteen of them, they would be enough to overpower him, with Lady Luck on their side, but they wouldn't be able to kill him. Only a white oak stake would do that, and those were hard to find. That was without adding the little problem of the whole sire line dying, so basically all of the hybrids.

But the witched had already addressed that problem. They promised Tyler they would cast a spell to cut the link that bound Klaus to all his descendants. And he wouldn't need the white oak stake. With the combined power of at least twelve hybrids, the Original would perish.

Tyler knew a solution would eventually present itself to him, and he was glad it had. With Klaus dead, he'd finally be the alpha male, he'd have a pack, and Caroline would stand at his left and Hayley at his right. They would be so powerful no one would dare challenge them, not even the remaining Original siblings! Maybe he could kill them too, to finally rid the world of their evil schemes. He would rule over all, he would be feared, he would be loved, he would be king!

First, he needed to unsire his future pack, before he worried about anything else. He had started with Chris, because he knew Chris trusted him with his life, and trust was essential when you asked someone to go through a torturous transformation again and again.

Chris' unsiring had been relatively easy, but Tyler hadn't planned what followed. Though no magic forced his loyalty, Chris was still terrified when he thought of Klaus. At first he'd been so afraid to go back to Mystic Falls to pretend he was still sired that he had spent a day quivering on an old farm. After a lot of persuasion, Tyler had managed to convince him that everything would be fine, and they had come home together, though in Tyler's case, it was in hiding.

Then, Chris had started worrying a lot, sometimes even stuttering in Klaus' presence. He feared his alpha was omniscient, some kind of all- knowing god. He had witches to help him, and surely after a thousand years, Klaus would see the betrayal coming miles in advance. Chris also thought that if he told Klaus the truth, he would take pity and let him live. Unfortunately for Chris, Tyler had seen the double-cross coming and decided to eliminate his friend before he could make a poor decision.

When Tyler looked at his bloodied hand holding Chris' heart, he knew he would need to be more careful from now on. He'd stir the hate in every single hybrid remaining until they only live for Klaus' death. There were only thirteen of them left now, he'd have to be careful if he wanted to have the twelve hybrids required to kill Klaus.

And from far away, twelve witches were laughing together, knowing another sacrifice was to come, this one giving a Hunter enough power to end the Original hybrid, who was too powerful to be killed by the sword like his siblings.

* * *

After Elena had dropped Bonnie back at her place, she had headed straight home for some much needed alone time. So much had happened; she felt she would never be at peace. Somehow, she knew the worst was yet to come, because they didn't even know what those witches were after exactly.

She planned on taking a really long bath with that book she had borrowed from Elijah's library. But when she opened the door, she was surprised to see a grand piano standing in her living room. She looked back and forth between the doorframe and the instrument and wondered how the hell it had been brought inside. She slowly approached it and let her hand caress the shining black wood.

Her fingers trailed along the keys, sometimes pressing some and then she sat on the bench. Her eyes closed, she started playing and just enjoyed the music that reached her hears. The piano was perfectly tuned, but there was more. It must be of incredible value, because never before had her fingers produced such an enticing melody.

She kept playing for a while, losing itself in the peace so long sought after, until a part of her started to wonder whose gift it was. Surely nobody knew about her secret? She stood up and walked around it, looking for a note, a letter, anything that would tell her who was her benefactor. She tried to use her sense of smell, hunting like dog would, but to no avail. There was nothing; if it wasn't for that grand piano, she could swear no one had been in her house recently, apart from her brother.

"Looking for that?" asked Damon, a letter in his hand.

Elena turned to him, a little annoyed that he was in her house while no one else was. She extended her hand, but Damon wasn't ready to give her the letter.

"No, let me read it to you,: "Elena, we both know if I were to give you a gift without any reason other than the fact that I wished to do so, you'd feel the need to refuse. But you cannot refuse if it is a _Congratulations! You are a week sober gift_. Your secret is safe with me, but I hope from the bottom of my heart you'll grace me with the product of all your hard work." The damn thing isn't signed, who's it from?"

Elena felt a mix of emotions. Though it was Damon's voice that had read the words, she had heard Elijah's, and noted the sarcasm on his congratulations. She felt warmth spread through her because of the personal gift, but embarrassment that he had read her like a book. Right now, anger dominated, and it was directed at the vampire standing in front of her.

"None of your business Damon. What are you doing in my house in the first place?" asked an exasperated Elena.

But Damon wouldn't so quickly give up, "Hey, don't try to change the subject by accusing me of something else, I taught you that! And why a piano? Who cares about pianos?"

"I do. And clearly he knows it too."

"So it is a _he_. And if moping Stefan is any indication, it's not him. Or maybe it's his way to apologize? Why did you break up with him anyway? Here I thought you two were the perfect couple!" said Damon, sarcastically.

"Damon, now is so not the time. Actually, it will never be the time, because my relationship with Stefan is none of your business!"

One moment he was standing across the room, and the next, he was three inches from her face, "How can it not be my business when you so obviously have feelings from me?" And he pressed his lips to hers in a not so gentle manner.

At first, Elena simply couldn't believe it. She put the blame on her, wondering if she had mistakenly sent out the wrong signals, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized only a complete moron could take her anger for repressed love and think that it is okay to kiss you your brother's ex-girlfriend whose new status was less than a week old.

But Damon was right in a way: she'd had repressed feelings for him, and when she had kissed him in Denver, that had definitely been a wrong signal to send. She used to wonder what it would be like to kiss him again, and how she would react if he did dare make the first move. But much to her surprise, when his lips fell on hers, she felt nothing. Well, nothing romantic, because her anger was rising fast.

Her feelings for Damon had started from a slight obsession with the unattainable. He was her boyfriend's brother as well as a murderer. He was everything she was supposed to hate, but she could only see the broken parts of him. Elena was a fixer; she liked to repair broken things, just like she had with Stefan, and could have with Damon.

When she felt Damon's tongue trying to break the barrier of her lips at the same time his thumb brushed the skin beneath her shirt, she realized that today was not the day to be a fixer, today she was a destroyer. She took Damon's chin between her fingers and forcefully removed his mouth from hers, all the while showing her vampire features.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm kissing you Elena. Don't pretend you don't want it, when in Denver you clearly did! What changed? Is it because of Stefan? You don't want to hurt him? It's okay Elena, we don't have to tell him!"

Human Elena would have been speechless, and maybe would have slapped him. Vampire Elena punched Damon straight in the jaw, with enough violence that she heard bones breaking.

"Wow, Damon, I should have known you would think I broke up with Stefan because of you, because I couldn't wait to be in your arms. Are you fucking kidding me? Do you really think the whole world revolves around you? How silly of me, of course you do!"

Now Damon was just plain confused, "Then why would you break up with him, if not for me?" Damon looked at the grand piano and he cast a suspicious look at Elena's, "Is it because of your secret admirer? You already found someone else? I guess I'll just never be good enough!"

"You are still making this about you! How can it be so hard to just imagine for a second that I did this for myself?"

Her reply rendered Damon speechless for a moment, but he quickly regained his sharp tongue, unfortunately controlled by his dull senses. "Elena, what are you hiding?"

"What?" This whole situation was getting more tangled up by the second. Elena longed after that bath she needed now more than ever.

"You know, Stefan and I are not completely brainless. We noticed the sneaking out since you came back, always with a lie. You are a lousy liar by the way. What is that all about? You have a secret lover maybe?" asked Damon, a smirk on the lips.

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"And bringing Bonnie back to the wolves' den? Staying there for four days? Has common sense left you?" Damon's eyes illuminated with a sudden realization, "Oh my god, you are compelled."

Ever since Damon had kissed her, her vampire features had not receded.

"No, I am not compelled. Damon, clearly body language is not your forte, so let me give you a translation. These fangs," passing her tongue over them, "mean I am this close of ripping your throat out," hissing the last words.

"Look Elena, feel free to try, you know what blood sharing means between vampires, I wouldn't mind. And anyway, I'm stronger than you, so it's not like you could win."

"You think you're stronger than me?" It was now Elena's time to smirk.

"Hey, don't be mad, I'm just a little bit older than you, it's normal. But if you really need to vent out, there are other physical activities we can do together other than fighting you know."

One too many Damon's comment was bound to tick Elena off. This one did it, but really, it was only thanks to Elena's inhuman self-control, because most would have already snapped.

She came at him using her vampire speed and pushed him in the torso, catching him just before he broke through the wall. She picked him up from the ground by the throat and held him in front of her, "Who's stronger now, Damon?"

Damon wished he could say he was just letting her win, but he really wasn't. Damon was too much of a sore loser to step on his pride to do that. He didn't understand what had just happened; he knew Elena had been trained by Alaric, but that didn't explain why she was faster than him. He'd had trouble to see her movements and hadn't even thought about blocking that he was already flying across the room. More than that, she'd had time to stop him from crashing the wall. He tried to break the grip she had on his throat, but she didn't even budge. Damon finally decided to use violence and tried to punch her. Punching girls wasn't a hobby of his, but he would be damned before he let a vampire less than a month old beat him.

Elena's smile only grew wider when she caught his fist in her hand. The smile was scary though, with her fangs showing and her eyes as black as the night sky.

That is the moment Caroline chose to enter the house. She had tried the mansion first, only to be told that Elena had already went home. She wanted to apologize for some of the bitchy things she had said at the pageant and had been sidetracked with all the Original resuscitating stuff. She also wanted to offer Elena a friendly ear if she needed to talk about her breakup.

Caroline had expected to find her friend in the couch, relaxing after all the traumatising events that had taken place not so long ago, and enjoying the fact that she wasn't dead for good. Caroline, however, didn't expect to find her friend holding Damon up in the air by the throat, with a murderous intent painted on her face.

Caroline quickly dialed Elijah's number, hoping he'd pick up soon, only to be answered by his brother, "Caroline, to what does my brother owes the pleasure?"

"Klaus, get Elijah on the phone, NOW!"

But Klaus wasn't exactly rational when it came to Caroline. In fact paranoia seemed to be a more accurate word to describe him. "Are you two calling up each other on a daily basis? Are you just using me to get to my brother?"

"Really, Klaus? Really? What are you, five years old? Jealousy can be cute you know? But that? That's just the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Now, I'm on a tight schedule, get me Elijah, now!"

She heard some mumbling on the other end, some grumbling from Klaus, and then, finally, Elijah's voice, "I assure you, Caroline, though my brother does act like a toddler, he is in act more than a thousand years old."

"Not you too? I have a crisis and you two are just acting like…" she stopped, lacking the word she was looking for, but heard Klaus laugh and complete, "like siblings?"

"I apologize, Caroline. Now, what seems to be the issue? I thought you planned on spending some girl time with Elena."

Then, all heard the sound of bones breaking, in this case Damon's wrist, and as he was crying in pain, Elena said, "Did you really just try to vervain me? Because we're having a disagreement?"

"Elena, it's okay, you relapsed, no worries. I get it, and you don't have to be ashamed, it happens to the best of us. Is this why you broke up with Stefan?"

"She broke up with Stefan?" asked Elijah.

"That's all you got from this conversation? Elena's about to kill Damon!"

"Yes, but who can blame her? His death is two hundred years overdue, she'll be doing the world a favor."

"ELIJAH! Get your Original ass here right now!"

"Where is _here_, if I might ask?"

"She's a feisty one isn't she?" Caroline heard Klaus say in the background.

Caroline rolled her eyes and answered quickly, "Elena's home. Look, Elijah, as much as I hate Damon, Elena will be sad if he dies. Not today¯ but tomorrow for sure." But he had already hanged up.

"I broke up with Stefan because I didn't want to be in a relationship with somebody I wasn't in love with anymore! Nothing to do with you, or blood, because I am not drinking from the vein, I'm drinking from blood bags!"

Damon answered on a patronizing tone that dine nothing to tone down Elena's anger, "Elena, Stefan is drinking from animals and I am drinking from blood bags, so I'm stronger than him. You are a baby vampire, there is no way you're stronger than me unless you're drinking from the vein, and even then, it's a lot of drinking. I wanted to vervain you so that me and Stefan can take care of you like we would have if Mr Original hadn't stopped us claiming to be better than us. And he failed, 'cause you're a junkie! That's what you were hiding!"

Attacking Elijah definitely wasn't the best idea, as Elena broke his other wrist and said, "Elijah didn't fail, and again, I am not drinking from the vein. Your ego complex is tiring. My big secret is that I'm taking piano lessons. I am learning to play the piano! That's it! Are you satisfied?"

Damon scoffed disbelievingly and continued angering the person who wanted to kill him, "Piano lessons. That's ridiculous. I already told you, you're a lousy liar. That's like the worst excuse I've ever heard! Who plays piano, hell! Who likes piano?"

"I do. I wanted to do something not supernatural related, something that would soothe me when everything gets crazy like it usually does. And I knew all of you would think it's stupid, so I didn't say anything to anyone!"

"Clearly you've told somebody, Elena, look at the piano."

"It's from Elijah, he figured it out on his own."

Damon saw red and did something that easily topped his personal list of most idiotic and impulsive things to do ever; he ran to the piano and destroyed it in one blow.

Elena just stood motionless, unable to understand what Damon had done. She saw that broken keys, the wood, and her brain couldn't process that destruction, until Caroline gasped, "Damon, why did you destroy the piano?"

Damon had destroyed Elijah's gift. Once shock registered on her face, she growled like the feral creature she was.

Elijah and Klaus had both decided to come investigate the situation. They were standing on the porch, about to knock, when they heard Elena's growl. Both looked at each other with an interrogation mark branded on their forehead, and stepped aside just a moment before Damon crashed through the door, dropping on the ground only when he was above the street.

Elena followed right after, still growling like an animal, took Damon by the throat once more and slammed him in the asphalt, hard enough that he left a hole in it. She then slowly broke two of his ribs, before she picked him up again and sent him flying a couple of meters farther like a ragged doll.

She saw Elijah and Klaus looking at her, the first a bit chocked, the second about to die from laughing. She addressed Elijah and said, "Don't even try to stop me, he's an asshole and he's had it coming."

"Who said anything about stopping you? I was about to ask if you need help on your technique."

That did it, and Elena burst out in laughing, going to give a hand to Damon. The broken bones were already healed, and if not his wounded pride, he seemed alright.

"Well, don't try to vervain me again. And don't kiss me too."

"Caroline, I think we should go, this seems to be a sensitive subject. I am sure your friend will give you a detailed report later on."

Caroline seemed to hesitate, her eyes focused on the strange scene in front of her. "Come on, how about a cup a coffee? Or blood, whichever you prefer."

"Hum. Yeah, sure. Elena, killing is bad. Be ashamed." And they both left, leaving Damon with a bipolar Elena and a much too calm Elijah.

"You wanted to help her kill me?" asked indignantly Damon.

Elijah barely gave Damon a glance before he came to Elena's side to see if she was alright. When he saw she wasn't hurt, he finally relaxed. "Did you like the gift?"

"I did. And then Damon destroyed it."

"Which would explain your little outburst," he said proudly.

"She went crazy bitch on me way before that! And you have some explaining to do, Elijah! I thought you said she was in control now!"

Both Elijah and Elena answered at the same time that she was, only to have Damon counterattack on the spot, "She can't be stronger than me if she's not drinking from the vein! So she is!"

Turning to Elena, he asked already knowing the answer, "Are you?"

"I'm not!"

Turning once again back to Damon, he replied, "See? She's not," shrugging his shoulders.

"She's lying! Why do you trust her?"

"Why don't you?" Elijah smiled to himself, knowing he was playing with the Salvatore. But how dare he try to vervain Elena? And break his gift?

"Elena, I think I know why the Salvatores taught you nothing, they simply did just as Katerina had done. If she had been a proper mentor, they would know that supernatural beings who become vampires are stronger than normal vampires. I guess you could say you get a bonus. You were a doppelgänger, therefore, you are pretty much stronger than every vampire, except hybrids, Katerina, and, of course, my family and I."

"For real?" asked Elena with a giddy smile.

"No, I'm lying. Of course, for real," he answered rolling his eyes. "And you, mister Salvatore, I would advise you to leave before I retaliate for the state of my gift."

"Elena, I'm sorry, I couldn't know that!"

"We'll talk later, Damon. When killing you isn't the first thing that comes to my mind," laughed Elena.

Once he was gone, she looked at her now completely ruined door and motioned Elijah inside, "Want a cup of tea? I bought some to make up for the lack of choice from last time."

"Sure."

It may be a different couch, in a different house, with a TV and no books, but here they were again, him sitting with his feet crossed on a coffee table and her legs resting upon his. He had his cup of tea in the right hand, and there was no pretense needed when he let his hand rest on her tigh.

"I think I'll need a new nickname for you. Somehow, lovely doesn't seem to apply after today."


	13. Preparation

**Always and Forever**

_**First of all, I apologize for the delay, I had a huge fight with my bestfriend. If I'd posted this chapter any time sooner, Katherine would have had seduced Elijah, and we don't want that.**_

_**Second, SPOILERS Hayley's pregnant? Really? I mean, first the sire bond, which was disgusting for everyone no matter who they shipped, then a pretty atrocious fourth season, which only started to get better in 4x18 when Elijah came back. Episode 19 wasn't so bad either, and I had such hopes for the spin-off pilot, because 45 minutes of Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah can hardly go wrong. Or so I thought. Because Hayley's pregnant. And what the hell was that really cute phone call at the end? A bone thrown by Julie to torture our souls a bit more? The writers should have read some fanfictions and made Caroline pregnant if they wanted to give Klaus a child that bad.**_

_**Ranting over.**_

_**To all of those who wondered if Bonnie and Kol would end up together, if there was ever any doubt, you'll have your answer. If you've been addict to TV shows for long enough, the clue I'm giving you can be either the most obvious thing in the world, or you'll never notice anything and I'll tell you next week! It may have something to do with the fact that it's pretty late, but I think I'm hilarious!**_

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

Elena felt conflicted about being happy when pretty much everything that could go bad had went bad, and when the worst was yet to come. The witches were probably planning something, but they didn't know what it was and were doing all they could to find out. She could be dwelling on all the horrible things that could happen, but Elena chose to enjoy life.

She dressed up simply, a pair of jeans and a shirt, and headed downstairs to get her morning coffee. As she felt herself coming alive with the help of the bitter drink, she decided to head outside for the day. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Elijah already standing there, his fist suspended mid-air just as he was about to knock. When he saw her, he let his hand drop to his side and warmly smiled at her.

"Elena," he said, with a small bow of the head.

"Is something wrong?" asked a worried Elena.

Elijah felt annoyed at her reaction. He wished Elena would stop associating him with trouble almost every time he saw her. Of course, trouble did happen pretty often, but he wasn't the one bringing it. Since Kol's death and resurrection in the same day, he had been trying to change her perception by coming to see her almost every day for normal stuff, like coffee and reading. The day before she had introduced him to Supernatural, which he had greatly appreciated, but had left him confused. Why Elena watched such TV shows when her life was already in havoc was lost on him, but when he had questioned her, she had laughed and said that the show had started way before her life became hell and it was just so addicting she had never stopped.

But even with all these little stolen moments, she still thought of him as a harbinger of bad news. Well, so much for progress.

"No, Elena, nothing is wrong, I merely wanted to see you."

When he looked at her like that, like his eyes could pierce her soul, Elena's breath hitched, and she secretly thanked the spirits for the blush she didn't feel because she was a vampire. "Oh. Well, I was going for a walk. You can join me if you want to."

"It'd be my honor." Always so formal. But Elijah couldn't contain himself for much longer, and even if he didn't really want to scold her, he heard the words coming out of his mouth anyway, "Elena, you should know better than to go outside alone. Being a vampire is dangerous these days."

"So I'm supposed to simply lock myself into my house until you catch those witches?" asked incredulously Elena. "No way."

"No, but you could call me. I would keep you safe."

_Ugh, how does he manage to say stuff like that and not sound like a complete idiot?_

"Yes, I guess I could do that," murmured Elena, eyes to the ground.

They walked together for a while, until Elijah broke the silence, "And where are we going?"

To which Elena answered with a mysterious smile, "You'll see. Actually, you might actually be useful, now that I think about it."

"How intriguing," mused Elijah. He tried to look for clues in their surroundings, but they were in the forest and there weren't many. After a while, he started to recognize some of his old playgrounds and though he knew where they were headed, he couldn't believe it. He stopped in his tracks and when Elena didn't, he grabbed her hand and turned her toward him, not letting go of her. "Why would you go back there, Elena? Is this some kind of punishment?"

If before Elena had been so quick to judge his visit to be of a dark nature, Elijah was now quick to judge Elena based on a trait of character she didn't possess, because Elena didn't hold grudges, she was all about forgiving.

Elena rolled her eyes at him and motioned him to follow, tugging at his hand, "Trust me."

How could two words hold such power in them was a mystery to Elijah, but Elijah was a man of faith where Elena was concerned, and he didn't need an explanation for the strange powers she seemed to possess.

Elena led Elijah to the caves where he had once held her hostage, going through the maze without any hesitation. Clearly it was not her first time down there, and it only made him more curious. She still held his hand in hers, almost running down the tunnels, until she stopped in a huge cave full of drawings.

Elijah recognized most of them, as he had often come here with his mother to watch her draw along with Ayanna, passing down to the next generation what they knew about wolves and then about vampires.

"Okay, so I was coming here a lot, to, well, get away from everything, and it really started as a game, but then it became more," she said excitedly.

"And you want to play with me?" asked a confused Elijah.

"No, you're getting it all wrong! I translated most of the drawings into text, and there really was nothing interesting, until I found this," pointing at a wall where almost all the painting had disappeared, even if there were magic wards protecting it.

"Is it about the Brotherhood?" said an earnest Elijah.

Elena had the grace to look mildly embarrassed, her gaze shifting to the floor as she kept shifting her weight on every leg. She murmured an answer, but it was so incomprehensible that Elijah put his free hand beneath her chin and raised it until his eyes pierced through hers, the question not needing to be voiced.

"It's about… you. Your family I mean. Mostly Rebekah." She was babbling and she knew it, but she was just so excited, and Elijah felt it.

"Elena, I will do whatever you ask of me, but you need to tell me why you brought me here if you want my help," chuckled Elijah.

"So, you were born so long ago you don't remember any of your birthdays right? Anyway, things were different back then. But your mother was one clever girl. See this circle?" pointing to a shape half white and half black. "My guess is that it symbolizes the equinox, when the day it equally as long as the night. But the rest is almost all gone, and I can't find out which one it is. Spring or Fall? So I thought you would remember something like… I don't know maybe it was hot?"

"Quite the contrary, Elena," marvelled Elijah. "It was raining heavily, and it was so cold we feared for both my mother and Rebekah's life. It was the autumn equinox." Elijah kept silent, his fingers travelling on the stone marked with his sister's birthday. "Did you found out about mine?"

Elena flashed her teeth in a wholehearted laugh and said, "Of course, yours was the first one I figured out. But I decided I would just surprise you when it came to pass."

"And if I already have plans because you didn't tell me before about yours?"

"You'll cancel them," answered Elena, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. It was now Elijah's turn to laugh his heart out, and finally get back to Rebekah, "And what are you planning to do with this information about my sister. If I am not mistaken, she hates you."

"Oh, you figured that out too? What gave it away? The fact that she killed me, maybe?" But when she saw Elijah's eyes grow darker, she quickly added, "Come on, don't be mad, she was just trying to save her family. Anyway, what do you think I plan to do when the equinox is only two days away?"

The puzzled look Elijah gave her was answer enough, so she giggled saying, "I'm going to throw her a birthday party! And you are going to help me!"

"It would be my pleasure, Elena," knowing he would never refuse her anything.

* * *

Kol knocked at Bonnie's door, unsure of what exactly he was doing there. When she opened it, her face showed the same confusion and they just stared in each other's eyes for minutes, until Bonnie finally broke the silence, "What are you doing here?"

Kol berated himself for not thinking about that earlier. He needed an answer, and fast. "I thought I would help you with the books. Now that one of these damned hunters killed me my interest has been peaked."

"I'm not inviting you in," she stated.

"Good thing I don't need an invite, then. For a witch, you are quite the forgetful type aren't you? I am part of you. There is nowhere you could go that I wouldn't be able to follow." And with that he pushed past her and started exploring her house. "What were you doing? Going through some books?"

It was in moments like this that Bonnie wished she could be a vampire, if only to keep her from blushing. "That lovely color on your cheeks tells me you weren't. Was it something mischievous?" he asked with glee.

"I was just… taking a break from all the drama. And I decided to go dig out my Disney collection… Decided to watch Cinderella…" she said, mumbling the last part.

"Cinderella? Jacob's and Wilhelm's Cinderella? Not bad."

"You knew the Grimm's brother?"

"Of course! They always had interesting stories to share! Now you said watch Cinderella. That part was lost on me." There was a _Explain_ pretty clear underneath his words.

"On the TV… with my old VCR…"

"The TV is the box with images and sounds right? Klaus has some of them at home! The VCR I don't know…"

Bonnie erupted in laughter, though a small part of her brain told her it was not the brightest of ideas, and another said that it was mean because Kol did look like a lost puppy at the moment. "I'm sorry," she said breathlessly, "sometimes I forget you were sleeping for two hundred years."

"Daggered, not sleeping," he replied bitterly.

"It was a euphemism. I won't try to spare your feelings anymore, don't worry!"

She was mad, that much even Kol could see. Little did he know, though, that she was not mad at him, but at herself for caring for a vampire, an Original at that.

"Would you show me?" he asked in a carefree tone, hiding the embarrassment he felt.

"Show you what?"

"What I missed during those two hundred years I was… sleeping." He sounded so vulnerable her inner demon suddenly shut up while her inner angel rolled his eyes at the reprise of her word.

"Why don't you ask one of your brothers?"

When he kept silent, Bonnie tried to guess, "You don't like to ask for them because you're afraid they'll laugh at you. Then why me?"

"I am _not_ afraid of anything. And because you're already laughing at me, so it won't be anything new."

"I'm not sure teaching you how to use internet would be a good idea, you could do horrendous stuff with it… I'll think about it okay?" She knew she shouldn't, but she felt that strange connection between them. It was like every rational part of her was telling her that no vampire could be trusted, especially Kol, but she couldn't have helped but feeling at peace the moment she saw him. She was safe with him, just as he was safe with her.

"You kinda ruined my Disney mood, and I was doing it out of procrastination anyway."

"What should you be doing, little witch?"

"I'm supposed to go see that Professor Atticus Shane like your mother suggested. It's a five hour drive, so I'll be gone for the day."

"You are not going alone. I'll go with you. You need a bodyguard anyway!"

"Yeah, because that worked out so well last time! Quite the bodyguard you make!"

"I saved your life, you ungrateful witch!" he indignantly opposed.

"So did I, you know."

"Guess that makes us even, then. I do not know this Shane guy, but if he is somehow involved in all this, there is no way he can be trusted. You are not going alone. Period. Can I drive?" he asked hopefully.

"Do you even know how to drive?" When he tried to evade her eyes, she sighted, "I'm driving. Let's go."

* * *

Elena felt a rush of adrenaline knowing what she was about to do. She was going to compel her principal, and she thought it was fun. While she was walking down the hallway with Elijah at her side, she felt the weight of the looks almost every student was giving her. Guys mostly wondered what she was doing, and their curiosity ended there. Girls, on the other hand, were already forming scenarios as to why Elena was with an older man who was so handsomely sexy and who looked like he didn't have a care in the world, if not for her.

High school boys cannot really pull off the suit, but Elijah was no high school boy, and he did pull off the suit. Feeling waves of hate coming at her, Elena felt grateful Elijah hadn't spoken, because they would probably try to murder her in her sleep if they heard his speech from another time.

When she stepped in the secretary's office, she felt in awe, because she had never been here before, being the perfect student and all. She proceeded to knock on the principal's door, but a discreet cough from the pitbull secretary made her reconsider.

"I don't believe you have an appointment, Miss Gilbert. This is not your living room; people do not just barge in the principal's office."

Slightly annoyed, Elena did not even have the time to move that Elijah had already beaten her to the secretary's side, compelling her to let them in.

If the principal was surprised to see Elena enter his office, he did not show it. He merely looked from his files and motioned her to sit. He started to hum while reading, completely ignoring the young vampire. Finally, he looked from his notes and asked, "How can I be of help, Miss Gilbert?"

"I want you to let me organize the school dance you cancelled for no valid reason."

"Miss Gilbert, you may think there were no reasons, but I assure you of the contrary. The dance will not happen. This decision is final."

She quickly stood up from her chair to go stand near the principal and bore her eyes into his. "You will officially put me in charge of a dance called Homecoming Take II. You will also let me do whatever I want."

"Was the last part truly needed?" asked Elijah, holding back his laugh.

"No. But you know, none of this really is. And we're still doing it. It's called having fun, you should try it," throwing a wink at him.

"I am enjoying myself knowing that you have finally started to smile again."

Elena knew she should dwell on that last part, but right now she was all about efficiency, and he had just given her the opportunity she was looking for. "Do you know what would really make me smile?" she asked with a hopeful puppy look.

"No, but I get the feeling I'm about to."

"If you could lend me the mansion for a small private party following the dance. You know Newton's fourth law right? To every party there is an after-party!" she said, batting her eyelashes.

"The mansion is Klaus'. And I will not have drunken teenagers in there to wreck destruction upon everything their hands come across."

"I said private. Only a couple of people. No drunken teenager. And Klaus will agree, I plan for Caroline to be there as well. Pretty please?"

"Why the mansion?"

"It's Rebekah's birthday. Where did you expect her to unwrap her presents?" asked Elena, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Presents?"

"Yes, they kinda go with birthdays. Do you never give gifts to each other?"

"Rebekah can have all that she wants, what would be the point?"

"It's the gesture, Elijah. When the gift is personal, it means more than any I love you! By the way, I don't know where she is right now, so you'll have to send her the invitation!"

"Of course, Elena. Am I to assume you'll organize the after-party as well?"

"Duh. Who else? Kol?"

* * *

Rebekah was in Rome enjoying the complete lack of activity in her life, when one of her maids came in with a silver platter claiming to have a letter for her. Of course, this surprised her, because as far as she knew, she hadn't told a soul her whereabouts. However, when she saw the cursive patterns forming her name, she recognized Elijah's handwriting, which didn't exactly surprise her. He always kept tabs on her, even when she wished he didn't. Most of the time, she ended up happy that he had.

The envelope contained a small message, two words. _Come home_, _Sister._

* * *

When Bonnie saw the university in front of her, she just felt despair because the building was so huge she would never find this Atticus Shane.

"Do you know where we can find Professor Shane?" she heard Kol ask.

"Yep, that's him, sitting on the bench right there," answer the blonde girl, pointing just a couple of meters from them.

They walked the small path that led to him and he looked up to find who was blocking the sunlight from his book.

"Professor Shane?"

"Yes? Are you in my classes? I'm sorry, I just have so many students, the names and faces sometimes elude me."

Just as Bonnie had been close to say no, Kol said yes. "We have been doing some reading on the side and came across this really shady thing called expression. There was only one mention, as if it should be feared, but we found nothing more with further research. We thought maybe you could help!"

Bonnie had to give him, he was really good at playing the eager student. She almost believed him. And part of her knew to fear people who could lie like that. They were people you could trust.

Shane only showed what appeared to Bonnie as genuine confusion. "Expression? I think I've heard that word once before, but I don't remember associating it with fear. All magic is good, you know? I can help in your research if you want to. Is it the subject of your dissertation?"

"No, we decided to focus on the spirits' powers, but we thought it could be interesting to expose something that could oppose them. But your help would be highly appreciated!"

"Fine, I'm always for devoted students. Perhaps you could give me your names, and we could meet in a week's time?"

Once again, Bonnie was about to tell him their real names, when Kol beat her and answered, "Sabrina and Harvey."

"I'll start digging now, and we can meet at this very bench in seven days, how about that?"

"Wonderful."

Bonnie happily made her way back to the car, glad that they had found another ally.

"He's a lying son of a bitch."

"What? How can you say that? He really wants to help, it was pretty obvious!"

"You're kidding me right? He was afraid when I mentioned expression. Do not trust the guy."

"You're wrong. Just because you spend most of your time lying to people doesn't mean everyone is like you! There are decent people in this world, you just happen not to be one of them," she spat, taking her place behind the wheel.

"We'll see."

* * *

"His mom is really worried, she wouldn't have called me if she didn't think something was wrong!"

"Blondie, remind me again why you care about Tyler, the guy who broke your heart?" asked a really bored Damon, from his couch.

"Because he may have chosen the were-slut, and I may not care about him, but I care about his mom. If she's worried about him, I'll help her, and then we can all go back to ignoring him!" she started to get carried away, when Stefan finally promised his support in a calm voice.

"Everything went wrong because of that stupid sire bond!"

"Talk about sire bond," grumbled Damon, the eternal bourbon drink in his hand.

"What do you mean?"

"There was this girl in New Orleans, Charlotte. She was, well… – "

"Crazy, completely crazy," completed his brother.

"Anyway, she would do everything I said, even things I didn't mean literally. After talking to that witch, she told me about sire bonds, and talked about a spell that could break it."

And then realization dawned upon him, and by judging Stefan's face, he wasn't the only one. Their shared look wasn't unnoticed by Caroline, who only grew worried when they both started to murmur curses.

"Guys, what is it? You both seem thunderstruck!"

"The spell, Caroline. It required a sacrifice of twelve."

"You killed twelve people to get rid of one girl? Mathematically speaking, it doesn't make any sense!"

Damon seemed about to explode, but Stefan quietly explained, "Do you remember that suspicious explosion that killed almost all of the council?"

"Yes, we all agreed that Kol was lying when he denied his responsibility."

"What if it was a sacrifice?"

"Oh god! You think it's linked to expression?"

"Magic that involves spirit doesn't require human deaths. So yes, expression. Kol and Bonnie should be back soon with answers."

* * *

Elena now understood how Caroline felt when she was the party planner, and it sucked. So much to do, and so little time to do it. All the students had been invited, and the tickets were free, which helped boost the participation for the event that was so last minute. Things would have been so much easier if Elijah had said spring equinox. But no, it had to be the one that was less than a week ahead.

The gym was almost done, with tables lined upon the wall only waiting for the food that would arrive the next day. The stage was ready, and she hadn't been able to book a popular band on such short notice, so she'd asked some of his brother's friends that he had recommended. If they were really bad, she had already filled her iPod with fitting music for a Homecoming dance.

Twice Elijah had come to check on her, and twice there had been a crisis that had required her immediate attention. When she'd turn back he'd be gone already. Time was everything, and right now she realized most of it was flying a bit too fast for her taste. She still had an after party to plan.

"Is this a bad time, fearful planner?"

She turned to him with such a bright smile that he knew she was up to something. "Hello, you."

He stopped when he was standing a bit closer he would normally stand if it were anyone else and tilted his head, "Another favor?"

Elena tried and failed to look indignant, and finally opted for laughing, "I won't have time to decorate your house for tomorrow. And I need you to tell me your sister's measurements because she'll need a new dress, and it will be your gift."

"I don't get to choose? Who do you think you are Elena Gilbert?" he asked with a smile.

"Of course you choose. You do have impeccable taste, I think it runs in the family, judging from that dress Klaus gave Caroline. But I have a veto."

"You won't need it," he assured her, "Are my hands tied for this after party of yours, or am I free to do as I please?"

"Free to do as you please, but it better please me as well!"

_**I am so tired... Next chapter will be better I swear! Finals suck!**_

_**Love**_


	14. Shopping

**Sorry, I finished my finals last week, then I was on party mode, then I was on sleeping mode. I guess I took a break from everything, including you, which I am sorry for. But I am back :)**

**Kol is back. I love Kol. Right now, I know there isn't a lot of Elejah, but there's a reason for that, which I'll probably explain next chapter. **

**My clue about Kol and Bonnie was their fake names: Sabrina and Harvey, from Sabrina the teenage witch :)**

**LMotD**

_Slow down you crazy child  
You're so ambitious for a juvenile  
But then if you're so smart tell me why  
Are you still so afraid?  
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?  
You better cool it off before you burn it out  
You got so much to do and only  
So many hours in a day_

_Vienna - Billy Joel_

**Always and Forever**

Chapter Fourteen

Caroline and Elena were at the Grill, slowly drinking their coffee, enjoying this little pause in their effervescent lives. The sun had set, and Elena had finally recognized that there was nothing else she could do for the dance for tonight. She wanted to, but her little minions had been begging for a rest, so she had agreed to let them go home, so long as they came back in the morning to fix the details. She, on the other hand, had a dress to find, and she guessed that with Elijah, it wouldn't be a matter of one hour. It's not like she was complaining either, because she really didn't mind spending hours in the company of the Original.

"I'm sorry about what I said about Damon, it wasn't my place. Just because I don't want to forgive him doesn't mean you can't."

"And I have to apologize for the way I've been treating you about, well about everything. I tried to handle Damon when he first came here, and maybe I should have just told you the truth. Maybe it would have helped. You know, I've been having these flashbacks, since I became a vampire, like all the compulsion wearing off. I should have asked what he did. I was just scared of your answer."

Taking her huge cup between her two small hands, Caroline gave her friend a sad smile, "It is better if you don't ask. The past is the past. I know he isn't that person anymore, but like I said at the dance, I wonder if he can keep himself from switching it off if you do tell him it's over."

Elena looked at her from the rim of her mug, smiling as she said, "Well, I did tell him it was over, if you remember correctly."

"Yeah, I was there. You were scary. But it felt good seeing you kick his ass like that."

Still laughing, Elena added "Yeah, well he had it coming!"

"I'm sad about the piano, though. It really was beautiful!"

Right then, Elena proceeded to avoid Caroline's gaze, until it was pretty clear that the blond vampire knew she was hiding something and wouldn't drop the matter anytime soon. "He does let me practice at his house. If you think the one he gave me looked beautiful, you should see that one! He had it made by a master around the time he was hanging out with kings. He tried to hide that part, but Kol decided to tell me when he noticed that it would make Elijah uncomfortable." Elena chuckled at the memory.

Caroline sighted, and silently shook with laughter, "Elena, when did our lives go so wrong?"

"Around the time I was born." Both girls kept quiet for a while, both feeling guilty for different reasons.

"Come on, Elena, if you really want to play martyr game, why not go back all the way to Esther's spell, or even the werewolves, but then nature itself, because it created the werewolves!"

"Okay, okay, I get it! Not my fault! I didn't cause Klaus' trust issues, or those witches obsession with expression! Please forgive me, ô terrible baby vampire!"

"You're younger than me, Elena!" protested Caroline.

"Maybe, but I'm stronger!" answered Elena, smiling with all her teeth.

Caroline downed the rest of her coffee and spaced out for a minute, remembering her last conversation with the Salvatore brothers. "Anyway, Stefan, Damon and I have a theory. I'm not sure I'm convinced yet, but you can decide for yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Did Bonnie ever mention expression being linked to sacrifices?"

"No… Bonnie never mentioned anything linked to expression because she didn't know anything, I think! Why?"

"Damon had this strange theory about a witch he knew who dealt in strange circles, and who asked his the sacrificed of twelve to get rid of a problem he had. Apparently, the number is important, and the magic harnessed from it is pretty powerful. Now, the council blowing up… they were exactly twelve in that old building!"

"And why do you doubt? If there's one thing I learned with Mystic Falls, It's that there are no coincidences!"

* * *

Bonnie was driving, and she really would have appreciated a little rest. However, every single time she convinced herself that letting Kol drive wouldn't be so bad, she suddenly felt very awake again. She had been behind the wheel the five hour drive to get to the university, they had stayed a couple of hours, and now they were only three hours from Mystic Falls. She wasn't sure she could make it if they didn't stop for coffee soon.

Kol probably sensed that she was tired, because in the last thirty minutes or so, he had started talking a lot more, keeping her from dozing off. She had to give it to him, he was good with completely random talk. From what she had learned, he liked cars, but missed horseback riding, and he was in love with music, but didn't know any lyrics. He also much preferred modern clothing, especially the woman's, and had said so while quite obviously checking her out. Bonnie would have had taught him a lesson if the lesson hadn't included hurting herself as well.

To Kol, everything was new, from hot water in the shower to toaster in the kitchen. Everything that people from the twenty-first century took for granted, he marveled at. He had asked about her family, but had quickly changed the subject upon hearing the death of her grandmother and her mother. He had apologized for her mother, because though he liked being a vampire, he could understand that for a witch, it was an unfathomable curse.

They had reached some sort of companionship when Bonnie's phone started vibrating from her purse, on the back seat. Kol took it and handed it to her, not exactly sure what it was about woman's purses, but sure that man weren't supposed to look into them. When Bonnie gave him an impatient look, he opened the bag and went straight for the buzzing device, answering when he saw the doppelgänger's face on the screen.

"Isn't it that sweet little doppelgänger?"

"Kol, give me back my phone."

Elena was surprised to hear the Original's voice, because she thought Bonnie was going alone, "Why are you with her? Where are you?"

Bonnie's driving had become a little erratic in her attempts to get her phone back and it had become quite apparent when she almost hit a car head on, only saved by Kol's grip on the wheel, taking them back in their lane. "Careful, witch, I'm the immortal one, remember? I don't think your friend would kindly take it if you were to die while I'm on the phone with her!"

"Enough, both of you! Now, did that Professor tell you anything about the purpose of sacrifices in expression?"

"He didn't say anything about sacrifices. He implied that expression was good, but could become bad if wielded by bad people. However, dear doppelgänger, you will agree with me that sacrificing people for magic hardly makes that magic good, will you not?" While he was talking, Kol had borne his eyes in Bonnie's skull, who had decided that focusing on the road seemed the best idea right now.

Elena sighted in exasperation before answering, "Yes, Kol, expression is bad magic." Before she had the chance to pursue that line of thought, Kol asked her another question, "And you will also agree that if the Professor whom my mother, the Original witch, might I add, suggested would know more about expression claims not to know anything, he was indeed lying?"

"Yes Kol, I think that is pretty clear at this point. Why all these questions?"

While he was wearing a triumphant smile, Bonnie made a sudden turn and started to head back to the university.

"No particular reason. I wanted to prove a point and thanks to you, I just did. I will have to hang up now, we have a Professor to torture."

Turning to Bonnie, he said, "Now, what is it people say in situations like these? I think it goes along the lines of I told you so. But we can make our own variations and add I was right and you were wrong, but that might be a tad too show off, what do you think?"

"Just shut up and let me drive."

"You're tired. When I'm not speaking you doze off. I've noticed. So it's either you fall asleep and drive us into a tree which will injure you if not kill you, and we all know what happens to me after that, or you listen to my amazing voice. Whichever you prefer, really!"

When he had started speaking, Bonnie had let herself foolishly hope that he had noticed for her sake, but of course, he was just thinking about his survival. The whole situation made Bonnie more furious than she'd ever been. First she was wrong about Professor Shane, then she kept having these little fleeting thoughts about Kol, really nothing was going all right. She just wanted to go home and she couldn't be further of doing that.

* * *

The trees were standing tall, and they were so huge that the sun had trouble fighting its way to the ground. The animals roamed free, but these days, they usually avoided a part of the forest where strange things were going on. In this place, no birds were singing, no rabbit were running. Only ants remained, going on with their business, undisturbed.

In that part of the forest, one could expect a complete silence, if no animals are present. Sometimes, it was indeed silent, but most of the times, there were desperate cries shouted at the sky, begging for forgiveness, begging for release, begging for death. There were curses and threats, also, but mostly, there was pain. Unbearable pain and inevitable pain. The pain was necessary, but it was still unwelcome.

There were thirteen of them, and Nature wanted nothing to do with them. They were an abomination, and She wanted nothing more than to get rid of them forever, along with their master. Nature also worried that the witches that had walked her path once, before turning their backs on Her, would succeed in exterminating the hybrids, because the power they would gain would be unimaginable.

The forest was the same as the one where the witches had pledged themselves to Tyler, but now, the rebellious hybrid was standing with eleven unsired hybrids, all of them busy looking at the body on the ground, half man and half wolf. Tyler was getting closer, and it had been easier with every hybrid he unsired. After every unsiring, Tyler had gotten better at knowing exactly what to say to convince them that going through that pain was worth it, that killing Klaus was the only option. Tyler had told them of his secret allies, which would allow them to kill the Original, but only with the might of the number of twelve.

"Soon, we'll be ready," said Tyler to his pack.

"What's the plan?" asked one of his hybrids.

Another quickly replied in a sarcastic tone, "Yes, what's the plan, Tyler? We're not sired, why don't we just all go our own way and forget about Klaus?"

"He needs to die for what he did to us! I am leader of this pack, you will do as I say!"

"Then you'll become just like him! Maybe we could kill you too?"

Tyler lost it and gripped the unthankful hybrid by the throat and held him high up in the air. "I am nothing like Klaus! Once he's dead I will let you go! But he will never let us free." Tyler then broke the insolent's neck and said, "I'll let you a couple of minutes to think about it!"

He turned to look at all the other hybrids that had gathered to witness the brief confrontation. "Does anybody else want to disagree?"

A huge hybrid with a sadistic look maniacally laughed and stepped forward. "Can we kill all the other bloodsuckers? The blond Barbie looked like she'd make a good meal."

Tyler growled as his eyes turned yellow, "Caroline is mine. Touch her and you are dead."

"Enough!" All the hybrids turned to see five witches walk toward them. Their eyes were all black, and as they advanced, the trees and the bushes seemed to try to escape their presence. The grass withered under their feet, and even the hybrid withering on the ground ceased his whimpering. "This bickering is not welcomed. You need to be united. Klaus will end you if you show the slightest hesitation. Your number is your strength. Use it wisely."

The words were cutting, and it was clear that the witches wouldn't tolerate any misbehaving. Tyler was glad for the appearance, but still felt like they were undermining him. He had lost one hybrid in his first attempt, but none after, which made a total of thirteen hybrids to defeat their sire. After that, he would be king, and he would rule over the world. He'd be the most powerful being on earth, especially with the witches at his side. He would have to find a way to control them too. None would oppose him. Surely when Caroline saw how powerful he was, she would come back. He would offer her the world; after all, wasn't that what Klaus had offered in the first place?

"We attack tonight. No need to wait any longer."

* * *

"We will not torture Professor Shane!" furiously whispered Bonnie to Kol.

"And what do you propose we do? Clearly your pacific method didn't work. Time for me to try something a little less… subtle!" argued the Original.

They were walking fast on campus, and while Kol had been tempted to just speed to the liar, he didn't want to leave the witch alone.

"We will tell him that we know he lied, and that we were told he would give us the answers we are looking for."

Kol rolled his eyes before answering, "And rainbows will appear as the unicorns chant." He paused, as if to think, and proposed something else to Bonnie, "Let's make a deal. I scare him to death, I threaten him, but I don't actually do any physical harm. Would that please your righteous self?" he asked, as he bowed his head in mock respect.

Bonnie didn't deign him an answer, she just hurried to the door with the name of Professor Shane nailed on it. Just as she was about to knock, she was pushed aside, not violently, but firmly enough that she stumbled a little. She was about to give Kol a piece of her mind, but his posture had changed. He didn't look carefree anymore, he was guarded. Every single muscle he had was on alert, and he looked like an animal that had caught the scent of something that wasn't supposed to be there. When he turned his head to Bonnie, she could see that his eyes had blackened. "Stay here."

"No. I'm not some frail girl who needs protection."

He moved to stand closer to her, to the point where personal space held practically no meaning at all. She could feel the ghost of his breath against her skin, just when he took her face in both his hands and stared at her with dilated pupils, "You will stay here."

"Did you just try to compel me? I'm on vervain, I can't be compelled. And even if I wasn't, Kol, you can't compel me! The spell, remember?"

Kol growled and moved back in front of the door. "You are a pig-headed suicidal witch, if anybody wants my opinion."

"Fortunately for the both of us, nobody does. Now open the door! Unless you're scared, of course!"

Kol didn't need to be told twice. And he sure didn't need to be told he was scared, because for a second, he had been. He hadn't feared for his life; he was immortal, except for a couple of stakes and a sword, but he had feared for Bonnie's life, even if just for a second. Then she had been her usual bitchy self and he had forgotten about his caring thoughts.

On the other side of the door, there was the same office they had been hours before. Everything was the same, from the way papers were sprayed across the desk, or the books were ordered in the bookshelf. The only thing that was different was Professor Shane himself, who instead of being sit looking through some books was now lying on the floor, his head twisted in an impossible angle.

"Looks like somebody got here before we did. Well, that's quite a problem wouldn't you say?"

But Bonnie had rushed to the Professor's side, checking for a heartbeat even though she knew there was none. He was gone, and so was their hope of finding out more about expression. Esther had specifically named him, and she had made the mistake of trusting him. She had put her faith in another fellow human, and she had been wrong. She stayed on her knees, despair weaving its way through her heart. She had lost her will, just as Shane had lost his life.

"Come on, now, don't be like this! Can't you do some witchy thing? I had a friend back in Salem who could talk to the dead, and she wasn't even half as powerful as you are. Why don't you try?" said Kol, trying in his own way to comfort Bonnie.

Bonnie looked up to him, her eyes lighten with a burning fire. "Actually, this isn't a bad idea."

"Don't act so surprised, witch!" retorted Kol, playing the offended.

Bonnie started to look around the office, looking for candles and herbs, and just as she expected from the shady guy, he had a cabinet full of witchcraft stuff. She placed the candles around the body in a five-pointed star and used salt to draw the lines of a pentagram. She could have summoned his spirit right-away, but she didn't want to take the chance of him getting away, and the pentagram would trap him.

"Get out of the room," she told Kol, without looking at him as she was still busy preparing for her spell.

"I'm not leaving you alone, and if I can't compel you to do stuff, you can't order me around." Kol didn't know for sure because Bonnie wasn't facing him, but he could swear she had just rolled her eyes.

She started chanting in latin, and as her voice grew stronger, the floor started to shake. A strong wind arose in the room, threatening to extinguish the candles. Bonnie, her eyes shut, moved her hands around her in a semi-circle, nurturing the fire even more. She could feel something blocking her yet again, but this time she had full control of her powers. The problem was his spirit, as if he was tied somewhere and she was blocked from accessing it.

Kol had been on the lookout for any passer-by when his nose caught a scent he hadn't expected. Blood. Bonnie's blood. He came back to her side to look at her, and just as he'd expected, there was blood coming down from her nose. He wiped it with his thumb without her noticing it. She just kept chanting in that very stubborn way she did everything. He took her face in both his hands and just as he was about to speak her name, something weird happened. He could feel something pass between them, but it was a one-sided connection. Energy was leaving his hands and passing through her face. She was doing this unconsciously, but she was drawing what she needed from him. Kol could have stopped it had he just taken back his hands, but the feeling wasn't painful. Just curious. Their connection truly was amazing and never stopped to surprise him. He guessed there would be even more surprises before the end. He also suspected that Bonnie had no idea of what she had done. Not much later, the wind stopped, the flickering candles stabilized, and Professor Shane's spirit arose and stared at them.

"Did you kill me?"

Bonnie's eyes opened and she gave Kol a confused look when she noticed him standing so close, with his hands on her cheeks. He quickly stepped aside, ready to pretend that nothing had ever happened. "No, friend, but I'm guessing whoever did didn't want you to speak to us. Obviously, since you're already dead and have nothing to fear, I would suggest speaking. I don't like being lied to, but my friend here has a habit of not-handling very well disappointment. I wouldn't advise crossing her."

"Let me rest in peace, I beg of you. Where I was, it was perfect. Let me go back there!"

"Answer my questions truthfully and I'll let you go. I can trap you forever here if you don't."

Kol interrupted Bonnie just as she was about as she was about to question Shane, "So, we've established that expression is really bad magic, no matter who wields it. I'd say it can even corrupt a good witch. Now, what's that thing with sacrifices?"

"There is much energy to draw from death. Twelve deaths can magnify the power of all the individual deaths to give you unimaginable power."

Kol waited for more, but quickly realized the Professor was done. "Do we really need to pry all the answers from you? We are the good guys here!" He corrected himself when he heard Bonnie cough. "At least, she's the good guy, I'm complicated. Now, witches are after us and they are using the Five. What do you know about that?"

"They are a coven of twelve, which makes them invincible. But they are afraid of your family. There is so much power hidden in your family, but only if you are united. They wished to destroy you before you found such unity. The Five are the way. They do not know who they are working for. They are being used."

The spirit talked in a monotone voice, as if he had no care in the world, which was probably the case. He just wanted to find his peace.

Then Bonnie decided to join the discussion, "Why didn't you tell us this when we came earlier? Why hide it?"

He pointed toward Kol, "Him. I do not trust vampires."

Even with the heavy atmosphere, Bonnie took the time to give Kol a smirk. "Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

"The Hunters. They take strength from the sacrifices. The witches take strength from the Originals' deaths. They wish to take their immortality. I know not their numbers, nor their individual strength. I know nothing else. Please, give me back my peace."

"If I were you I'd let him rot," said Kol.

"Then praise the spirits I'm not you." Bonnie just let him go and extinguished the candles. She made a move as if to leave, but Kol stopped her.

"Look, witch, you don't seem disturbed by the fact he's dead, which is not a good sign for you, but he was murdered. If you let your witchy stuff lying around, it won't look good. Make it disappear, and we'll go."

Bonnie stopped at Kol's words. It was indeed disturbing that she wasn't affected by death anymore. She made the pentagram disappear and erased all traces of their passage, before motioning to Kol it was time to leave.

Bonnie started to yawn and she said, "I can't wait to be back home in Mystic Falls. Let's hit the road."

"You were already falling asleep on the way back. With the spell you just cast, you're barely standing on your feet. We're staying for the night, unless you want me to drive?"

Bonnie left her mouth hanging open. She couldn't possibly have heard that right! Spend the night here? "Never. I'll take a coffee and I'll be just fine!"

"Look, okay? It's quite simple. You will fall asleep if you take the wheel. We'll go in a hotel, sleep, wake up and come back just in time for the dance! I saw one not too far away, and I have my brother's credit card. I'm not familiar with the way it works, but from what I've gathered, I can buy whatever I want and Klaus takes care of it."

"Which means two rooms?"

"Stop being so afraid I'll attack you, witch. I only take willing women in my bed. Are you coming now?" he asked, handing out his hand.

"Don't you need to drink? Not that I want you to, but we could stop in a blood bank. I'd prefer that as you going all crazy in the hotel and murdering half the staff. When's the last time you fed?"

Kol went all quiet, which got Bonnie worried. "The day of the pageant."

"So you're gonna go crazy bloodthirsty on me? I'll stop you."

"I don't need to feed anymore I think. I still can, but I don't feel any less weak even if I don't drink blood."

"But you love the hunt. Why don't you just do it for pleasure? Don't get me wrong, I really disapprove, but I don't understand, and I want to understand."

"I don't want to anymore. Human blood has lost its appeal. Hybrid blood would make me sick." He turned to look at her with a predatory look. "Witch blood smells like a divine delicacy. Or maybe it's just yours."

Bonnie temporarily forgot how to breathe. She wanted to answer him with something like "Ew. You wish." And yet, beneath his grinning mask, there was some truth hidden. He had indeed stopped drinking human blood, which was good. Bonnie mentally berated herself for thinking that she would never date a bloodsucking vampire, but that she would have to rethink her notion if the vampire wasn't a bloodsucking one.

And then there was that little part about her blood. She could decide to take it as the joke it was meant to be. But again, there was something more. He did want her blood. That she knew. It was like many other things with Kol since she had done that stupid spell. She just knew he was telling the truth, but that he was hiding it under a thick coat of sarcasm.

"Don't be scared, witch. I said I only take willing women," said Kol, annoyed that she would think so low of him. It was funny how she could read him like a book, and he would read her like an illiterate.

* * *

When she heard the car door slam shut, Elena ran downstairs and opened the door.

"You're early."

Elijah poorly hid a smile. He was indeed early, but Klaus had tossed him outside after the fifth time he had asked the time in five minutes. He felt like a hormonal teenager, and that was all because of Elena.

"I am. I can go back to my car and stay there for the next half an hour until I am perfectly on time."

Elena laughed, "But the stores aren't opened yet!"

Elijah passed his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture which Elena only viewed as smoothness. "Then how about a cup of coffee before we start this day that I'm sure will be exhausting? There's this place in town, I know the owner, I'm the one who turned her a couple of centuries ago."

"She's that old and she owns a coffee shop?"

"She loves coffee about as much as she loves blood which is weird if you ask me. But who am I to criticize her? Now, shall we go, Elena?"

"Yes, you're lucky I'm a morning person and I was ready an hour ago!"

Elijah had indeed been right. The coffee was quite simply the best Elena had ever had. True, she wasn't that old, but she almost purred when she took her first sip. Elijah had just kept looking at her with that same ghost of a smile. She had ordered three different coffees after that first one, and Elijah had ordered all the other ones he had seen her eye with envy on the menu. She probably wouldn't sleep for the next days with all that caffeine, but she was just so happy, Elijah bet she would end up buying her own coffee shop one day. She also had exchanged numbers with his friend, Alissandra, and they had planned another coffee date soon.

"Thank god for vampire metabolism. Do you realize all the whipped cream I dignity and had been really calm about the whole thing. But now, her restraint was gone. Anyway, she already felt such ease when she was with Elijah, it was just a matter of time before he saw her stuffing herself with chocolate or something else. She had all but forgotten about the real purpose of the day, when Elijah suddenly looked at the time.

"We already lost an hour of shopping, and I assure you, to find a dress suitable for my sister, we'll need all the time we have left!"

The first shop they entered, Elijah left before Elena had time to breathe twice. Apparently the clothes smelled bad, and he would not buy such disgusting things to his dear sister.

The second, he had carefully examined every single dress in the shop, only to leave without saying a word. He had Elena completely confused.

"What are you looking for? Maybe I could help!" tried Elena.

"I do not know what I am looking for. When I'll find it, then I'll know."

"Oh god. We'll never get out of here. Okay, let's start with the basics. Rebekah will be the queen of the evening. She needs to look magnificent. And she's blonde, so pretty much every colour looks amazing on her. But no black, because black is boring. No blue either, because everybody wears blue. And no green, because she wore green for the ball, and you don't wear the same color twice. I'm thinking a mermaid dress, strapless of course, in color tones of purple. Purple was always the color of royalty."

"According to Rebekah, going shopping with an exact idea in mind is a recipe for disaster."

"Have faith, Elijah."

They continued shopping for a while, because it is indeed a dangerous business to look for something you've already pictured in your head. Whenever they entered a store, it was the same thing. Elijah would walk calmly, commanding respect as he always did, while Elena let go and just enjoyed touching all the dresses, and imagined a life where she could wear gowns on many occasions.

She was always laughing, and he was always smiling at her. She felt at ease when she was with him, but she didn't realize she felt better just when they were closer. Slowly, as the day continued, she would talk to him with her hand on his arm. Sometimes, he would give her the princess treatment when she asked for something and hold her hand in his before he brushed his lips against the skin.

They were oblivious to the world, and though they were shopping for Rebekah, she wasn't always the first thing on their minds. Elijah was tired of the low-class places and where they were right now, a gentleman had kindly offered them Champaign while they looked around.

"Would the lady like to try that gown?" he asked in that impeccable speech.

"Oh, no! We're are not looking for anything for me. His sister is the lucky one!" answered an embarrassed Elena. She had been staring at it for the last couple of minutes.

"Try it on, Elena."

She pointed her finger at him like a parent would when scolding a child, "No, Elijah. We cannot get sidetracked."

"I chose my sister's gift an hour ago. You seemed to have so much fun I didn't want to spoil it. Now, go try on that dress that we already know was made for you."

Elena made a mocking salute, "Yes, sir"

And she did look amazing. "Stunning." Turning to the gentlemen, he said, "We'll take it, thank you."

"Elijah, no. This is not something we'll discuss. It's a no. As simple as that. No."

" Maybe the lady would like to try it a little bit more." He went to a turntable and took out some priceless vinyl.

When the music started to play, Elena backed away a few steps, feeling like the whole situation was getting way too out of hands. Elijah kept taking two steps toward her for every step she took to escape him. "I don't have heels."

"I assure you I don't mind."

"My hair is a mess."

"Your hair looks breathtaking."

Her back hit the wall.

"I can't dance."

"Now that's just a lie."

Only half a step separating them.

"I…"

"You owe me a dance. I didn't get the dance I desperately wanted at my mother's ball."

And he took one of her hand in his while he placed his other hand on her waist. The last thought of protest died on her lips as he started to lead her away from the wall and in the opened area in the center of the shop. At that moment, Elena regretted not dancing with him at the ball, because a thousand years of practice had made him a gifted dancer. She felt clumsy in his hands, yet he managed to make her look like a princess.

They were dancing never leaving each other's eyes, but Elena quickly grew scared at the depth of Elijah's. She was getting lost, and that was to fear. His stare never wavered; he was the incarnation of confidence. He knew what he wanted, and Elena wasn't sure yet she wanted to find out exactly what he wanted.

When the song ended, a slight pressure from Elijah's fingers were all that he needed to ask her for another dance. The little step she took to get closer to him was all the she needed to answer his question. And so they danced, and they danced.


	15. Dancing

**Always and Forever**

_It's a little bit funny this feeling inside  
I'm not one of those who can easily hide  
I don't have much money but boy if I did  
I'd buy a big house where we both could live_

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no  
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show  
I know it's not much but it's the best I can do  
My gift is my song and this one's for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song  
It may be quite simple but now that it's done  
I hope you don't mind  
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words  
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

_Your Song – Elton John_

Chapter Fifteen

Her plane had landed just a couple of hours ago, and she was a vampire, an Original at that, so if she was just like her brothers, she would still feel refreshed. However, the six-hour flight had destroyed whatever energy she had left after all the parties she had attended in Europe. Klaus hadn't wanted to give her the jet because the only reason she was away was her own selfishness, according to him, so she had taken a normal flight, not really picky since she needed to be home as soon as possible.

She had accepted a normal flight, first class, obviously, but vampire hearing could be troublesome at times. There was that crying baby that she'd had to compel, but who didn't understand human language. In the end, she had scared him to death and he had shut up. She had then fallen asleep with a mask on her eyes and had dreamed about the reason Elijah had to ask her to come back so unexpectedly. If there was trouble, he would have called, not sent a letter. And she would have had the jet.

She generously tipped the man who carried her luggage, because she knew how heavy it must be, and also because she could have done it herself without breaking a sweat, but courtesy should always be rewarded. It was becoming so rare these days. The fact that he was absolutely gorgeous was merely icing on the cake. On her way home, she daydreamed about the steam shower that awaited her. The tension in her shoulders would loosen, the knots untie themselves.

However, Rebekah was cruelly disappointed when she arrived and nobody was there waiting for her. Not a sound was coming from the house. It was as silent as a horror movie right before you scream for your life. She sighted, not sure why she was so sad, knowing she should have known none of her brothers would care about her arrival. She had mostly wanted to see Klaus, but had really expected to see Elijah. Kol was a brother you could only take in small doses, and she wasn't so sure if there was enough time between the last dose and her return. But right now, she would have been glad to see even her idiotic brother.

She went upstairs to her bedroom, but her gloomy face was soon replaced with a curious one when she saw the package on her bed. It was a huge box, shining in golden tones, with a purple ribbon tied around it. She sped to it, dropping her luggage on the floor, completely forgotten. She'd never been able to resist surprises, why start now? She unwrapped the elegant bow, careful not to just rip it apart, and found a purple dress beautifully folded. On top of it, an envelope looking like an invitation. She quickly took a look at it.

_You are cordially invited to a dance by your friends and family. For reasons that need to remain hidden from you, you will be picked up at seven and shall not know the location of this dance until your arrival. _

_E._

Of course, Rebekah assumed E. stood for Elijah, when it actually represented Elena.

Being a vampire, Rebekah didn't need two hours to get ready. In fifteen minutes, her hair was nicely done, and as she looked at herself in a mirror, she realized she looked like a queen. Whoever had chosen that dress, Elijah she thought, definitely had great taste.

When she came outside, there was a limousine waiting for her, leading her to believe that her brothers were not that far away, or else how would they have known when to send the limousine? She thought of ripping the black screen separating her from the driver to compel him, but decided against it because she wanted the surprise to last. All the windows were tinted black, but so dark that she couldn't see where she was going. There had been a lot of effort to keep her from the truth, she had to admit. After a not so long drive, the car came to a stop. The driver got out of it and went to open the door to a very surprised Rebekah.

"Elijah? What is all this?"

But Elijah just smiled and gave her his hand to help her get out. He motioned her to the school, where they had stopped. Rebekah gasped when she read the huge banner hanging on the wall, "Homecoming Dance Take 2".

"Go enjoy that teenager life you wished for so much, little sister. But don't forget, when midnight comes, you have to come back home."

So Rebekah entered the gym, and she was in awe. There were tables with punch waiting to be spiced, there were dimmed lights, there was a band playing, it was everything she had imagined a school dance to be. All the students were there, but the night was still early, and most were still too shy to dance. Most girls hanged out together in some corner, watching the boys gather their courage. There were two girls on the verge of fighting because they had the same dress. They were trying to figure out who had bought it first, all the while shouting and crying. Of all the girls in the gym, Rebekah took pleasure in noticing that none wore the same dress as her, but also that she was the only one with a purple dress.

Matt was looking at her from afar. He had been enrolled by Elena to help make this night a truly amazing birthday gift for Rebekah, but seeing the smile she had right now, it was mission accomplished. He was curious as to what would be her reaction to prom, if she was still there when it happened. He sure hoped she would still be there when it happened, because somehow, he found himself smiling while looking at her happiness.

He slowly approached her, expecting her to realize his presence anytime, but she was just too lost in the excitation of that first school dance. "May I have this dance?" he asked, just as the song he had just requested started playing. Well, it was actually Elena who had requested that he'd request Take my Breath Away, but Rebekah didn't need to know that, yet.

The blonde vampire accepted the hand offered to her as Matt led her to the dance floor. "Hey have you seen my bothers?"

"No offense, but it'd be pretty creepy if they came to a high school dance."

Rebekah laughed, trying to imagine Klaus in a place like this. She looked around, now searching the rest of the gang. They were never far away. She saw Jeremy with a girl she didn't really know, but no sign of Elena, Caroline, Bonnie or even the two idiotic brothers. She stopped dancing, "What is this? Where are they?" But Matt just looked at her with a confused look on his face.

"Who's « they »?"

But paranoiac Rebekah had taken over, and she gripped Matt's wrist, quickly taking him to an empty classroom. She pushed him against the wall and asked again, "Why are you alone here? I don't see the rest of the gang, nor my brothers. What are they up to? Is this yet another one of your plans?"

Matt held up both his hands in the air and tried to explain, "Whooaa, calm down, Rebekah. The others are just busy and they've been to dances before. Your brothers are just doing whatever Original vampires usually do."

"This place is boring, I'm going home."

But this was impossible for Matt to accept. Elena didn't compel him, but she sure had made an impression. Rebekah was to stay there until at least eleven, but not longer than midnight. She absolutely had to be home by midnight, because if not her birthday would be over. Except for Elena, none of them thought it really mattered, but Elena had insisted that all of them had to wish her happy birthday on the actual day. Elijah, Klaus and Kol had known better than to argue.

"Before you go home, I'm pretty sure an apology is in order. How about a second dance?"

* * *

While Rebekah was dancing with Matt at the school, Elena and all of the others were at the mansion busy decorating. Everything would have been easier if they could have put the decorations earlier, but Rebekah would have seen them, and they couldn't have that.

Elijah had been responsible for the preparations, and he had given everything he had for his little sister. He had even enrolled Klaus to help, though it had been begrudgingly. Elijah had bought everything of course, but there was so much that he couldn't hide it in the mansion, in case Rebekah decided to lurk around. She was a bit impulsive, and tended to do things when you expected them the least. Elijah's reasoning had been that because they needed her not to check, she obviously would. So he had asked Elena to stash the decorations at her house for the day.

It had taken a full truck to move everything back to the mansion, but Elena was so excited she didn't mind. Jeremy, on the other hand, had been a little mad when he had come home to find boxes everywhere. He'd had to dig his way up to his room and he'd let Elena know what he thought of her plan, which wasn't much.

So here they were, Caroline, Klaus, Elijah, Elena and even the Salvatores, decorating a huge house for a birthday party. Elijah had opted to match the idea of royalty of the dress to the mansion. Everywhere you looked, things were in purple and gold, and the tableware was a set in cut glass, with silver cutlery. There was a tablecloth covering the Victorian dining table, as well as matching napkins. Elijah truly had outdone himself. Though Elena had put Elijah in charge while she was taking care of the school dance, now that she was free, she was once again ordering people around.

When she had seen Stefan being a little lazy, she had quickly came to his side to remind him that they didn't have a lot of time left, and certainly no time to lose. "Hey, before you leave… I just wanted you to know… and it really is not an ultimatum or something, but after all of this is over, I'm gonna go on my own for a while," said Stefan, while wrapping his gift for the birthday girl.

"What do you mean, Stefan?" Elena did get what he was saying, but it just hurt so much, like she'd just receive a huge blow in the stomach as a human.

"I'll wait until that whole Brotherhood slash witches thing is cleared, but after that, I'll travel a little. I need to find my life somewhere, and as long as I stay here, I'll leave in the past. I have to move on, Elena. Please, tell me you understand that," asked Stefan.

As Elena listened, she did understand. By becoming a vampire, she hadn't lost her compassion, far from it. It had been magnified, and she realized that she could feel what Stefan was feeling. She understood his feelings as if they were her own, and it helped her let go. "I don't wanna sound too cliché, but I really hope we'll stay friends."

"Then let me be cliché too… We have forever, Elena, one day or another, we'll find our way back to each other. As friends, we'll drift apart, and then reunite. And somehow, even if it doesn't right now, I know it will feel right."

Hearing his words brought Elena close to tears, both from happiness and sadness. "Ask Damon to come. You've been either apart or fighting for so long, I think you're both way overdue for some bonding time. "

And right there, though everybody in the mansion had pretended not to hear, while they all could, Damon joined them. For once in his life, he'd had enough brains to understand that his presence was not needed for the moment. But when Stefan and Elena started to talk about him, he felt he was justified in his interruption. "Leave Mystic Falls? Why the hell would I do that?"

But Stefan continued as if his brother was not there, "You're free, Elena. Ever since I've saved you from that bridge, this is the first time you truly look like you belong to yourself. I wish I'd been responsible for this, but I'm not, and I'll go find myself somewhere else, because clearly Mystic Falls is not the place for me."

Eyes bright with tears, Elena took Stefan's hand in her own and glanced at Damon. "I'll never order you around, Damon, even though sometimes I think you really need a quite violent wake up call, but don't leave your brother alone. And don't leave yourself alone." She put her free hand on his cheek, while he closed his eyes and surrendered to her, "Think about it, okay?"

And she moved on to other things that needed her attention, which never stopped arising. Klaus was simply a lost cause with the decorations, spending half of his time muttering about the idiocy of it all and the other admiring Caroline as she gracefully transformed every room she went in into something that would shame a king. Elena kept looking at her watch, and she had set alarms every thirty minutes to make sure they'd be ready for Rebekah. Matt was also supposed to send her a message, so they'd have time to hide.

The third time the alarm went off, Elijah took Elena's phone from her hand before she had time to turn it off and he did it himself. He then looked at her and said, "If I hear this incredibly annoying device one more time, you are on your own."

Though the warmth in his eyes betrayed him, Elena decided to play a little, if only to ease the tension that'd been building up for a while. "You want me to choose between an alarm and you?" She looked torn as her eyes kept going back and forth between her phone and Elijah. Her teeth grazed her lower lip, showing hesitancy. "I don't know, Elijah! What would I do without this alarm?"

Elijah tilted his head to the side, trying to decide whether or not his Elena was being sarcastic, "Yes, we wouldn't want the world to actually end because I crushed your phone in my hand now, wouldn't we?"

And now the game was over, because he had threatened her phone. She'd have agreed to turning off the alarm, but breaking her phone was just going overboard. She gasped, looking completely horrified, "My phone! It's innocent!" Never noticing the glee in the Original's eyes, she continued on a now more authoritarian tone, "Give it back!"

They were now doing what is called in this modern world, a staring contest, both trying to hold back laughter and not ready to accept defeat. For Elena, it was that she realized that he was much stronger than her, and more experienced, and a staring contest was probably the only thing she could beat him at. For Eljah, it was more about getting lost in her eyes and actually have a reason to do so. And so lost they both were that they didn't see Stefan and Damon's look murderous, Caroline roll her eyes, and Klaus snicker.

"Children," explained Caroline to Klaus.

"Idiotic oblivious fools," corrected Klaus.

But all stopped when Elena's phone, still in Elijah's hand, vibrated once, twice, telling everybody that she had received two text messages. Elena made a pass at her phone, but Elijah held it out of her reach, "I can read, you know."

"I don't care, it's my phone!"

Elijah's eyes betrayed his surprise when he read the message, because he had expected at least another hour before his sister arrived. "Matt says that they are coming. Apparently my sister was bored because there wasn't enough drama."

Elena shrieked, and would probably have hyperventilated if she'd been human. As it turns out, she sped to every room and tried fixing some things that really didn't need any fixing, until Elijah put himself in her path. She stopped, looked at him like he was an annoying bug in her way, and tried to walk past him. Quite obviously, that didn't work, because Elijah took her in his arms and held her close to him, rendering her unable to escape. "Calm down, little one. Everything is ready. The only thing missing for this birthday party is Rebekah, and quite fortunately for us, she is coming over as we speak. You did good. Perfect, even."

Elena looked at him with an interrogation mark tattooed on her forehead, "Little one? Is that the new surname?"

Once again, trust Elena to pick up on the least mattering detail. Elijah chuckled, and since Elena was so closely pressed to him, she felt it as if she were the one laughing, and she realized she liked seeing Elijah laugh. "No, little one is not the new surname. It could be though. I do have one better though, but you'll have to wait a little before hearing it."

Klaus heard the car before any other vampire in the house did, which is why he chose to intrude on his brother' little moment, "You two lovebirds need to hide, she's coming, now."

If Elena could have blushed, she would have. Fortunately for her, she couldn't, and she had to hide.

* * *

Matt had been driving Rebekah home, trying to go as slow as possible to give Elena the time she needed to make sure everything was ready. He couldn't help but sigh when he saw the mansion with no lights on.

"I never asked for you driving me home. If it was such a painful task for you, I don't see why you proposed." Rebekah was hurt, and she was trying to look indifferent, but was failing.

"What do you..." Matt was lost once again, but he realized his sigh might have been misinterpreted, and tried to correct her, "No, Rebekah, I am glad you accepted my offer. So, what did you think of your first school dance?"

Rebekah made a point of looking through the window when she answered, "You made it bearable."

The car came to a stop, and Matt was at her door in an astonishing short time for a human, offering his hand. "Sorry, I didn't catch that. What was it you said?"

Rebekah let Matt walk her all the way to her doorstep, not bothering to answer. They both fidgeted in front of the door, both reluctant to open it. The night was coming to an end, and they wished it wasn't. Rebekah thought about the words Elijah had said before sending her off to the dance. Just like Cinderella, she was a princess, but only for one night. The next day, Matt would go back to almost ignoring her, and that was why she didn't want to go back inside alone. "Do you want to come in for a drink?"

"Yes, that'd be nice, as long as I'm not the drink."

Rebekah gave him a sad look, convinced that Matt still distrusted her that much.

"Hey, that was a joke. You're supposed to laugh when a friend makes a joke, even if you don't think it's that funny." Matt grew a bit nervous at the silence that followed, because he knew that everybody in the mansion was listening, especially the brothers.

"Friend? You consider us friends?" she asked, a bit incredulous.

Now, Matt was way past uncomfortable, and he was trying to think of a word to describe the level of awkwardness, without success. He looked to his feet, unsure of what to say. "I guess I'll go home now…"

He started to head toward the stairs, but something caught his arm. He turned back to see Rebekah's hand on his jacket. "Don't. Friends take drinks together, don't they?" she asked, a bit hopeful.

Matt almost hesitated when he thought about the discussion he'd soon have with Caroline and Elena about this particular moment, but he decided he didn't care. The girl was trying, and that was enough for him. "Yeah, friends happen to do that."

When Rebekah opened the door, she barely had time to see the decorations that Klaus, Elijah, Elena, Damon and Stefan came out of various places in the hall, all holding flutes of Champaign, "Happy birthday, dear sister of mine," wished her Elijah.

"I hoped you enjoyed the school dance, it was your gift," added Klaus.

"Birthday? I do not know my own birthday, and I certainly don't expect you to know it," said Rebekah, slightly unsure.

Elijah brought her a flute, also handing one to Matt, and explained, "There were drawings about your birth in the caves. Elena found them and deciphered them. With my help, we found the exact date."

Rebekah turned her head toward Elena, showing her disgust and distrust, "You did?"

And Klaus decided to join the discussion with his merry tone, as if he was the only one enjoying some private joke, "Actually, this whole evening was Elena's idea. The school dance, which I believe is an apology for the whole stabbing in the back. This little after-party," he looked at the hall and the decorations, making a circular motion with his hands. "And the dress too, though I think that Elijah had a hand in picking it."

This was the moment of truth. Everybody held their breaths, unsure of what would happen. They all knew that Rebekah had mastered the art of holding a grudge, and that Elena had given her plenty ammunition to do so. This peace offering might as well be for naught. Rebekah sped to Elena's side, stopping to stand in front of her, leaving close to no space between them. She gave her a head-to-toe look, thinking about what she would say. The tension was palpable, and Elijah stood ready to intervene should her sister decide that Elena's presence was offending.

Suddenly, Rebekah stepped back to take a closer look to the decorations. She noticed that they matched her dress, and knew it was on purpose. The dining table was beautiful, and there were presents set on a coffee table. The lights were dimmed a little, and there was a soft music playing. She said in a haughty tone, "I guess it's okay. If I'd been in charge, it would have been better, of course."

Damon smirked, "Yes, Blondie, but it's not socially acceptable to be in charge of your own surprise party."

Rebekah continued as if he did not exist, "Maybe you and I could plan the next event together, and I could show you how to make everything perfect." She was still walking around so it seemed as if she was talking to herself, but Elena answered, "Yes, I would love that.

And just like that, the tension diffused, and Elena and Rebekah were on the way on mending their relationship. "Anyway, I better forgive you, it seems like you're going stick around whether or not it is what I wish." She gave a pointed look toward Elijah, who just gave his sister a little smile that meant both _Thank you_ and _Would you kindly shut your mouth? _at the same time.

When Matt's stomach growled, Rebekah headed for the dining room, "I don't know for you, but I'm starving. How about you tell me everything I've missed while we sit down for a midnight dinner?"


End file.
